Destiny of the Heart
by leon valentine
Summary: The future is what no one expected. Creatures enter the world and return it to the dark ages. However, there are those who fight back and who rebel to these creatures.
1. Prologue

Prologue

Prologue

A Story On A Rainy Day

The rain drops splattered on the concrete road. Little puddles began to form on the lawn. The rain pounded on the roof, making an echo in the kitchen. It was a typical day in England. Raining like it usually did.

The house wasn't what you call modern day. It looked like it belonged in the gothic age. Its windows were stained red, green, purple, orange, and blue. The house itself was build out of tile and an interesting type of metal.

The year was 2360 A.D. or as the people called it 160 A.W. A.W stood for After War. It was a war that changed everything.

The old man sat in his chair looking out the window into the forest. A forest, which he spent quite often in his younger days. His frowning lips turned into a smile. How he missed those days.

Suddenly two little children ran up to him. It startled him so much that he almost fell out of his chair. He looked down and saw his grandson, who was seven, and his granddaughter, who was six, standing there with excitement in their eyes.

"Grandda tells us story. The one about the days of old," the boy pleaded.

"What do you mean by the days of old? There were a lot of those days lad."

"Tell us about the three that brought the world back to how they are now." The little girl said with joy in her voice.

"I think you too young to here that one," he implied, patting her on the head.

"Mother says that you told her when she was my age," the boy argued.

"Did she now? Well alright. I guess its time you heard the story then. Come on lets get into bed with ya."

The two kids ran off up stairs and into their shared room. The old man looked out the window and smiled. He then slowly got up and walked towards the stairs. He took his time walking up the stairs, making sure not to hurt himself. He was getting ready to turn eighty in a couple of months. He knew that his time on this planet was coming to an end.

When he got into their room, they were already in their night close and tucked under their blankets. He smiled and turned off the light. The boy turned on the lamp next to him and his grandda took a seat next to his bed. The little girl sat up and laid on her stomach with her head facing towards grandda. He took a deep breath and then closed his eyes.

"This story begins in the year 2152. It was a day that no one expected and it changed the world as they knew it.

It began with the clouds going dark and the storms ragging throughout the world. Hurricanes, tsunamis, tornados, blizzard, hail storms, ext. People thought it was like the movie "The Day After Tomorrow". But they were wrong. The storms weren't nearly as bad as the movie. In fact, they only lasted two days.

When they were over, people went back to their usual lives. Satellites were saying that everything were normal. The radar scans were normal but that was a mistake the humans made. They trusted their own technology to tell them everything.

The day after the storm was over, a ring of light shot through the clouds in Saudi Arabia. Though it wasn't the light of the sun. A massive ship came through the clouds that day. It was a ship that had never been seen before by any human being. The ship landed in the desert undetected. Soon another one followed and another one after that. Eventually there were ten ships barked on the desert of Saudi Arabia.

The doors of the ships opened, and at first only a bright light could be seen. When the light faded away, creatures that stood like humans, covered fully in an unusual metal armor, stood at the edge. On their backs or on their side rested a medieval weapon made out of an element. Each ship contained ten thousand of these creatures.

They marched out of their ships and began to build landing ports for the rest of their ships. In weeks they finished and four hundred more ships came, dropping off more of these, creature like soldiers.

They took over nearby cities and villages in a matter of hours. In two days they had the entire Middle East in their control. There seemed to be little or no resistance. And the theory about Israel being able to defend themselves against anything vanished into smokes.

That was when people realized that they were here. The U.S government figured that there was a glitch in the radar, thus they couldn't track them sooner. They immediately took action once they took over all of Africa.

They were called the Enemy, for the humans thought they would be destroyed quickly. There was no reason to get creative with these creatures. They were wrong on the quick and easy part.

There first mission failed horribly when not a single one of the Enemy dropped dead from their missiles and bombs. They just kept spreading, half of them flying to South America and the other half progressing on into Asia.

The Americans decided to go on full combat with these beasts. They sent all of their men with the best artillery that they had. The Russians and Koreans joined in with them. Soon the British and the French joined. Then every country joined in the battle.

The battles ended horrifically every time. The human army's bullets bounced right off the armor. Nothing was stopping the Enemy from progressing on. When the Enemy approached the army, they slaughtered them like cows. The humans were confused by this. Why weren't they dying? What kind of metal was their armor made out of? How could it stop bullets and nukes and radiation? These were questions that could not be answered.

Soon they tried a new approach. They armed all of their soldiers with medieval weapons. The soldiers went into a month long training program that taught them how to use their weapon. By then the Enemy had taken over South America, Australia, the bottom half of Asia, and the bottom half of Europe.

When they went into combat again, they were disappointed to see that their idea did not work. The armor was too strong for the weapons and the Enemy's skill was far greater then the humans. It was a complete failure and they were forced to take a different route.

So America and its ally countries put all of their best minds together and built more advance technology. America was the only free country by then. The building of these new weapons was payless. They all agreed to go without pay for this was a crisis emergency. The Enemy, who was not afraid of these new weapons, waited patiently to give them a chance. They had only been on this planet for a month, what could another month do.

With all of the workers they had, working night and day, the new weapons were built less then a month. It was their last stand against these creatures and they had the outmost confidence that it was going to work. There was no way the Enemy could survive these weapons.

Judgment day came, and the humans launched their final attack. Missiles and bombs covered the sky. They struck the Enemy in every section of the planet. Dust flew up in the air covering up the Earth's atmosphere. When the dust ceased, it was a tragedy. Not only did they not kill a single Enemy but they destroyed themselves. The bomb's radiation spread throughout the world, killing millions. It was the end for the human race.

But the Enemy had no intention of making humans extinct. They had no intention to destroy any more of them. Instead they did something least expected by the humans. They gathered an assembly and told them that the human race would be spared and free on certain conditions. They came up with one number one rule. No technology allowed. The punishment for breaking this rule varied on what technology you had. The first one and most severe punishment was no guns.

If the humans did not agree to these terms, then they would be killed. A lot of them didn't like the idea but their stubbornness of being lazy wouldn't take a hold. They agreed to the terms and those who were loyal to the Enemy were given power. The power they were given equaled ruler ship. Since everything was back to the medieval ages, Kings and Queens returned, along with Emperors. Counts and lords were other power roles.

It seemed to the humans that the Enemy was helping them out in a way. They helped build new towns, castles, shrines, weapons and armor, and other places. The humans enjoyed not having their technology for they saw nature at its finest. Though, a lot of them didn't like the new way. They questioned these rules and their makers. Why was the Enemy doing this? Something didn't seem right to them. But there was nothing anyone could do. The Enemy was simply unbeatable.

"Grandda, how did they get rid of them?" the little boy asked his grandda.

"They didn't. That's the next part of the story. You shouldn't interrupt like that. Anyways, where was I… oh yes, now I remember. The fate of the world was laid down upon one man. A master swordsmen who started up the first rebellion."

The woman screamed out in pain, holding her husbands hand. She was over due on her child and the doctors had to hurry if the child had any chance of surviving.

"Come on you can do. Your almost there," the nurse said trying to calm her down. The woman gave one last push, blowing out her final breath.

The screams of a new born child echoed throughout the hallway in the hospital. The doctor snatched a towel from the nurse's hand and wrapped the new born baby boy in it. Immediately the child stopped screaming. _That's unusual_, the doctor thought to himself. When the child opened his eyes for the first time, the doctor stepped back in shock. The left eye of child was neon yellow, while the right eye was metallic silver. It was something he had never seen before.

"Well miss your child seems to be healthy, just little unusual things about him… miss?" The doctor looked over and saw the nurse checking her pulse. When she took her finger off the woman's neck she shook her head. The man looked at her confused.

"What's wrong? What's wrong with my wife?" he asked.

"She's dead," the doctor responded, just staring at the mother in shock.

"What!? She's dead!? No! That's not possible! NO!" he screamed in agony, so loud that the entire hospital could hear him.

"I'm sorry. The only thing you have left of her is this baby boy," the doctor said handing him the child. The man looked at the child and stepped back in disgust.

"What's wrong with that thing? Is it mutated? No I don't want it. Get it away from me!" the man screamed swinging his arm in the air.

The man began to cry and then ran off. He got in his car and drove home. There, he drunk as much alcohol as he could, flooding his body with it. He then grabbed the kitchen steak knife and stabbed himself in the heart. The cops found him laying there in a pool of blood the very next day. They had come to ask what he wanted of the child and found his answer when they found him dead.

The cops searched through all of their belongings, trying to find something that might give them a hint of what they wanted to call their child. They found a couple packs of cigarettes, a pipe, bills lying on the table, old photos, and some jewelry. There was no clue to be found. It was when the last cop was walking when he saw a folded dusty paper. He unfolded it and saw a picture of a heart with black veins going through it.

He went back into the woman's office and searched through the drawers. Finally he found what he was looking for. It was a folder containing all of the woman's old paintings and drawings. They were all of different kinds of hearts. Some with thorns wrapped around them and others with swords piercing them. He grabbed all of them and walked out the door.

They decided to call the boy Tim. Just a normal name but it was what they came up with. Tim grew up to be a fine looking boy. He grew his ghost white hair out to be medium length. He wore shades to hide his eyes so no one gave him a hard time.

Ever since he was three, he would pick up a stick and pretend that it was a sword. He watched hundreds of movies on sword fighting and began to mimic their moves. He would challenge others his age to contest. Since they were young, most of the other kids didn't want to. But when they did he would always defeat them. Some of them got jealous of him being better and they too trained with a sword.

When Tim turned eight, he had learned how to use six different types of swords. His favorite being a mini broadsword, followed by a katana. It was very interesting to see these weapons, for they were carved into their form by Tim. He became really good at carving and carved any weapon for the other children.

It was the age of thirteen, when something changed about him. By then he had run away from the orphanage and he lived with friends. He wasn't a fonder of sports but he joined football to condition himself. It was during class when a cop appeared in the class room and called Tim out. The cop said he had been looking for Tim for quite some time. Tim thought he was going to take him back to the orphanage. He was surprised when instead the cop gave him a folder with tons of pictures in them. They were all drawings of hearts. The cop said that his mother drew them and Tim took them with gratitude. He never saw the cop again.

Tim went back to his friends house; skipping practice. He examined each picture carefully, catching every little detail about it. It was dawn when he finished. He didn't realize how late he had stayed up. He decided to skip school that day.

Over the next couple of years he couldn't take his mind off the drawings. Every night he would look at them before going to bed. In his dreams he would see the hearts and a woman standing next to them. It was his imagination of what his mother looked like.

Tim's ability to use a sword had grown beyond anyone he had ever met. Once he went into a kendo studio and challenged five kendo masters. He defeated all of them within thirty seconds. They refused to give him lessons after that. It was the same with the fencing teachers and every other sword fighter.

He also grew an interest in martial arts. He took six different martial arts class at the same year for two years. Going in each one every day. He skipped school a lot to pull of this off. He learned quickly because his interest was so great. The teachers were amazed at his growing skill. He would sometimes use different styles in one class. The styles he learned were Aikido, Twe Kwan Do, Jujitsu, Konfu, Tichi, and Capoeira, which was a dancing type fighting.

He also specialized himself in other weapons when he thought he couldn't get any better with the sword. He tried every type of weapon there was and learned how to use all of them. Not as well as he did the sword but enough to be good with them.

When he turned sixteen he changed his name. Tim didn't seem like the right name for him. He named himself something that reminded him of his mother. He called himself Hart and wouldn't respond to Tim any longer.

A couple of months after he changed his name, they came. The Enemy that no could beat. When the world went back to medieval times, he was filled with joy but it left when he saw what the Enemy were doing to some people. He didn't like the fact that they were in control of the world.

Hart was strolling along the dirt streets of America or Old America as it was now called. It was in a way a rule not to be in this place. After the humans last attack, the Enemy destroyed it to its last means. Every building was destroyed and the land along with it.

He never got on one of the ships to the other countries. Instead he stayed, just to be away from everyone else. He didn't want to be recruited into some army nor did he want to live the life of a peasant. He just wanted to be away from everyone.

He passed by the old First Bank and saw a woman wearing torn up cloths sitting there with her son sitting next to her. The woman looked up and saw a teenager wearing a white shirt and black slacks walking by. She leaned up against the wall holding her son when she saw him walking towards them.

When Hart got within arm range with them, he went to one knee and reached into his pocket. She leaned as far away from him as possible, thinking he was going to kill them. Instead Hart took out a loaf of garlic bread wrapped in tin foil. He handed it to them and smiled.

"Don't be afraid. You need it more then I do," he said offering her the bread.

She hesitantly reached for it, not sure if he was tricking her. She grabbed the bread and unwrapped the tinfoil. She gave her son most of it and took little for herself. She nodded smiling and when she swallowed her food she whispered, "Thank you."

Hart stood up and walked away. He turned around the corner when he heard a shriek. He knew it belonged to the woman and reacted by turning around and running back to her.

When he got back around the corner, he saw two Enemies standing in front of the woman and her child, who were now standing up themselves. The Enemy on the left had a broad sword made out of fire and the one on the right had a mace made out of wind.

"What are you doing here woman. This place is strictly forbidden to all humans," the one on the left said.

"You and your son will come with us for punishing," the other directed.

"Hey! Aren't you guys forgetting someone?" Hart shouted.

The two Enemies faced turned and saw Hart standing at them waving.

"Another one? Very well then, you're coming too."

"Well then, come over here and get me," Hart said getting into a fighting position.

"I've got this brat," the one with the fire weapon said.

He walked over to Hart, resting his sword on his shoulder. When he approached Hart, he swung his sword down but Hart stepped to the side escaping the attack. He countered by round kicking the Enemy in the head. The Enemy didn't seem to be bothered by the kick and swung again. Hart leaned back and then jumped forward, punching the Enemy in the head and knocking him down. The Enemy dropped his weapon, which Hart dashed for immediately.

The Enemy jumped right up and punched at Hart. Hart blocked the attack to the side and slashed the weapon across the Enemy's metal chest. The Enemy took a few steps back and then fell over.

It was really an accident, what Hart did. He didn't think that the weapon would actually kill the creature. Seeing this, the other Enemy charged at Hart, swinging his mace over his head. When he got in range, Hart lunged his sword into the Enemy's neck, stopping the creature in his tracks. He yanked the sword out and the Enemy dropped dead.

After the fight was over, Hart knew what he should do. He left for South America and jumped on a ship heading for France. There, he made his way to Germany and started up a petition for people who would rebel with him. At first they laughed but when Hart invaded a camp of fifty Enemies and slew them all, they thought differently. He returned with all their weapons and handed them out to the men that joined him.

Hart's rebellion grew as they swept throughout the country and made their way towards England. They destroyed several infantries of a hundred men in silence and secrecy.

By the time they had made it to England, Hart was twenty three. He had developed a new weapon for himself, a signature of who he was. He had taken the armor of the Enemy and melted its steel. He took several other ores and irons and poured their liquid in with it. He then took a dagger and cut his hand. He dropped the blood into the liquid and then crafted it into a shorter version of a broad sword. The hand guard of this sword was curved back and the hilt was a foot long. The blade itself was about three feet long.

The steel was like a mirror; a perfect reflection could be seen. Except for the red veins that were going through it. The sword was truly magnificent and he decided that it deserved a name. He called it Xaven.

His first test of the sword was successful. The sword was much lighter than the element weapons and it pierced through the armor easier, too.

One day though, the Enemy found him out and sent two hundred men to go kill him and his rebellion. They were all caught off guard and Hart couldn't save them for his weapon was not with him. He retreated into the forest and disappeared, never to be seen again. His sword was lost as well, for no one knew of its location. Hart lost the sword in battle a few months earlier. An oracle found the sword and hid it away from the world. The oracle and the sword were never found.

The thought of a rebellion died along with Hart. Though no could prove he was dead, it didn't really matter. One hundred years went by and it was highly doubtful that he was still alive. And even if Hart did show up he would be too old to save anyone.

But hope didn't fall from everyone's grasp. There was a woman who started up the rebellion once more. Unlike Hart, she had more followers that wished to fight. The people were growing tired of this life and wanted to live life like their ancestors did.

She had rebels in every country around Asia and Europe. Each country had a sub leader for the rebel group. She resided herself in England; no one knew why. The campaign was much more successful then Hart's.

Her victories didn't start right away, though. She was an orphan like Hart but grew up a different way. She trained her body to be stealth and when she was twenty two, she boarded an Enemy's ship and stole all of their weapons with out being noticed. She did this several times, until she had enough weapons for half the group. They soon began killing the Enemy and collected their weapons afterwards.

For two years she fought in England and most of her battles were successful. Some of them ended in a retreat but then came back later on to finish the job.

The real adventure began after they had successfully stopped an Enemy attack on some villages. They celebrated their victory that night but a surprise was waiting for them.


	2. Chapter 1

I

A Strange Mist

The night's air was dark and cold. The pitch black made everything invisible to the naked eye. And it was so cold that you could see your own breath, and your nostrils would freeze in seconds. There were no stars or moon in sky, only black clouds, which looked like they would let loose their tears of rain any second. The wind was blowing hard, making the trees stir and striking a chill to the bones.

In the middle of this forest was a camp site. There laid fifty nine men, fast asleep under there wolf skin blankets. The fire, which was in the middle of the camp, was retreating to just a hint of smoke. To the left of the dying fire was a small table where dirty dishes laid un-organized and broken. The amount of scraps of food around the place made it clear enough that this group had a feasting party. Now they were making up for it by snoring their hearts out.

The leader of this group could not do the same, however. She was perched up on a tree about a fourth of a mile away from the camp. Like always, she was off in another world asking herself pointless questions.

For two years she had lead her men into battle against the Enemy. Though it seemed like nothing in England had changed. She began to wonder if it was even worth doing what she was doing. Of course it was. How could she be so silly?

A small shiver slithered, like a snake, down her spinal cord, when she heard the echo of a twig snapping, soar through the air. She snapped out of her thinking process and glared down to see who was coming. She cursed at the darkness when she could see nothing. She grabbed the scythe that laid next to her against the tree, and leaped down to whatever surprises awaited her.

The first thing that she could actually see was bright colors heading strait for her. She knew what those colors were. Her scythe resembled one of those colors. Her eyes widened in fright as she screamed, "We're under attack!"

She could hear the war screams of the Enemy as they advanced nearer. They invaded into the camp just as the men could hear their leader's scream. One hundred creatures that looked like humans, covered fully in unusual metal armor, charged in slaughtering everyone in their way. Only fifteen men managed to get up and grab their weapons in time. Only half of that number was quick enough to defend themselves. The camped men dropped like slaughtered cows.

The eight, including the woman, fought as well as they could. The disadvantage was bearing on their shoulders, for the sleep in their eyes was barely wearing off. The fact that this was an unwelcome surprise didn't help to the disadvantage either. The woman was the only one who didn't have the worse of it, being fully awake and aware of the Enemy's arrival.

One of her men, who armed himself with an estoc made of the element wind, was having the out most difficulty defending himself. Just as he finished slaying one of his foes another approached him, with the same weapon as his own, except it was made out of the element earth. The warrior Enemy slashed at the man's Adams apple. The man brought up his sword deflecting the attack and then countered by bringing the sword behind his back and then swung the sword vertically down. The Enemy step side to the left, bringing his sword down to the man's leg; digging in a deep gash into his hamstring. Blood drooled out of the wound like wine from its bottle. He screamed out in pain, as he dropped his sword and grabbing his wounded leg. The Enemy took advantage of this and thrust his sword into the man's sternum. When the foul beast yanked his sword out, the man dropped dead, leaving only seven of them left.

One of the other warriors was fighting back to back with the woman. He was her first in command; wielding katana made out of the element light. He swung his blade low in a horizontal motion, catching one of the Enemy's right leg and cutting it off. The Enemy dropped to the ground not being able to stabilize himself. The first in command warrior switched the way he held the blade and then thrust it down into the Enemy's chest. When he pulled it out, he flicked the tip of the sword up, catching another Enemy under the chin.

The woman was holding her own far greater then her companion she was fighting with. She swung her scythe, made of darkness, horizontally towards an Enemy's head. The tip of the curved blade, atop of the shaft, went straight into it. She pulled the blade part out, span it over her head, and then swung it down. The blade went into the top of another Enemy's head. When she pulled it out, she saw another one rushing towards her. She brought the curved blade around the Enemy's head and pulled with all her might.

"One coming towards you," she whispered.

She kept pulling until the she spun the Enemy in front of her companion. When the Enemy reached him, it was suddenly stopped by the man's sword going through the stomach area. The man yanked his sword out and glanced around his surroundings. The Enemy were all around them. Only four of them now were still alive.

"We should probably make our leave, unless we want to have tea with the devil," he recommended just as another man fell, leaving only three of them.

"I agree," she replied in a whisper with a slight nod. "The only problem is we don't have a way out," she added still in a whisper.

Her commanding officer searched around, seeking out an exit. There was none that he could make out. He had to make an exit himself, for him and his leader.

"Vash! Come join our side of the party!" he yelled out as he fended off an Enemy.

Vash was what people called a giant. He was seven foot, four inches. His muscle structure was immense. Everyone one of his allies feared him, even the leading woman feared this man. He once grabbed two Enemies by the neck and threw them both at a tree, breaking them into pieces. His weapons were two double blade axes, one made of lightning and the other made of wind.

Vash just killed ten Enemies in one blow, when he heard the first commander shout his name. He charged through the Enemies towards his caller, knocking them all down like they were bowling pins. Some of them leaped out of the giant's way, afraid they were going to get crushed by this bulldozer. Others hacked at the monster from the side of him, leaving deep gashes on his arms and his legs, but he wouldn't stopped.

When Vash reached his destination, the first in command just hacked down an approaching Enemy. The leader of the group had hacked down six right before his one. It still confused her why she never saw any type of blood come out of these creatures.

"What is it William?" Vash asked, slamming the back of his fist into an Enemy's head. The Enemy flew in the air and then crashed in a tree.

"We're leaving. Would you do the honor?" William responded slashing up, killing one Enemy, and then back down, killing another.

Vash saw a trail that led deep within the forest. _It might be are only way of loosing them, _he thought. He decided to take action and charged through the infantry, who was now cut down to fifty. William and the woman followed, cutting down anyone who jumped back in their way. Vash made through the swarm of Enemies, with his companions right behind him, but with a good amount of new wounds. Though he was a giant, the amount of wounds he had made it hard for him to walk or even swing his axes. He shook off the pain and forced his legs to keep running.

They sprinted as fast as they could through the forest but became difficult when the trail became nothing but the forest itself. Soon they were running through the trees, getting nicked by the pines and twigs. Vash had blood trickling down his head from ramming it into the branches themselves.

The woman was ahead of her companions, moving through the trees swiftly, and avoiding every obstacle. She was after all a stealth and this is what she trained her self to be able to do. Her companions, both with cuts all over their faces, envied her ability to move with such swiftness.

She stopped suddenly when she heard a loud, _thump_. She turned and saw William laying on the ground and Vash on his knees over him. At first she thought he was dead but soon discovered that he only tripped on a stump, which she was fortunate to have avoided. She blew a sigh of relief and then rushed over to him. She fell on her knees as he pushed himself up. He felt her arm under, under his chest, assisting him up. He laid against a tree and swept the dirt off his eyes.

They were all panting form lost of oxygen, especially the giant who was working the hardest and taking the most damage. They all stopped breathing when they heard the sudden war cry of the Enemy right behind them. The woman looked into her friend's eyes, letting him know that they should leave. His only was response was his head shaking no. She looked up at Vash and saw him do the same thing.

"Go. We'll distract them. If you die, the hole thought of a rebellion dies," Vash said lifting up both axes.

"I'll by you some time Vash. You lead them as far away from her," William said leaning his sword up against him.

"Right," he responded.

They both looked at their leader and could see sadness in her eyes. It came to total shock when they saw a single tear slither down her cheek. It was something they had never seen her do before and surely never expected to. But they did and it made them feel her pain.

"No, I won't abandon you two," she finally said, wiping the tear away.

"Our time has come. We can barely go on anyways. Please, you must understand and go," William pleaded. They could hear the screams growing nearer and new that they didn't have much time left. "Go. Now."

She got up an ran, holding the tears in her eyes. Vash nodded at William and ran a little ahead. William pushed himself up and shouted, "It was an honor fighting for you Milady." He then grabbed his katana, took a deep breath, and charged into death's welcome arms. He slain six and then got six weapons stabbed into him. When they pulled them out, he swung his sword one last time and then fell to the ground.

Vash threw one of his axes, hitting two of them in the head and then ran off making sure to stay as far away from his leader's trail as much as possible.

"Come on you bloody demons. Let's see if you got it in ya to chase me. Come on. I bet not a single on of ya can bring me down!" he hollered out as he ran, provoking them to follow. And they did, not realizing that their prime target had gone a totally different way.

The woman ran as fast and as swiftly as she could, trying to avoid all obstacles that would slow her down. But the fear and sadness that rose up inside her, made her careless. She began to look like her dead companions, little cuts all over face. It didn't stop her, though. When she tripped on stumps she pushed herself back up and when she got ran into a branch or got nicked she pushed the pain away and kept on running. She wouldn't let her companion's deaths be in vain, she had to survive.

After running for twenty minutes, she began to notice something different about the open air around her. She slowed her pace to a jog and then to a walk and then finally stopped. When she didn't hear the screams of the Enemy behind her, she examined her surroundings, with the help of the little crescent moon that had peeked out in the beginning of this fight. She came to realize that see couldn't see open air but instead mist. The mist wrapped around her surroundings like a blanket, but she could still see all of her other surroundings. It was an unusual mist, something she had never experienced before.

It came to a most unusual shock when she noticed the mist shifting around. In some areas it shifted around in clockwise circles, while in others it swayed back and forth. It seemed like the mist wasn't connected but had different pieces. Different pieces that moved in their own ways. Watching all of these movements for a minute, began to make her head hurt. She decided to look past the mist at the forest surrounding.

Something about this forest seemed unusual, not just the mist but the forest itself. Everything around her glowed a hazy blue, lighting the place up. Even the mist glowed this color. It seemed so magical to her, but she pulled herself out of the fantasy and reminded herself magic didn't exist. Or did it? Right now being in this place made her question that.

Suddenly a new feeling took over her, something she hadn't felt all night. Tired. It was the only reason why she was able to survive and try to help the others survive. It was because she wasn't tired and she was aware of the Enemy's approach. But now it was kicking in and she began to stagger around.

She looked at her hand that held her scythe and saw blood running down it. It probably got cut when she was running through the forest and making sure she didn't let loose her only defense. She licked all of the blood off to see where the sources of it was. She saw six cut on her hand that were letting blood slide right through their openings.

Remembering that she was about to fall over for lack of sleep, she put the scythe on her back and placed it into its holding brackets. She realized that she could have done that when she was running and avoid the cuts on her hands. It didn't matter now. What mattered now, was finding a place to sleep safely.

She walked until she found some trees with big trunks and no branches at the bottom but high in the top. She jumped towards the nearest tree towards her and planted her right foot two feet up the tree. She then pushed off the tree and leapt towards the next one, planting her left foot ten feet up the tree. She pushed her foot off of that one and landed on the lowest branch on the third tree, which was twenty five feet up the tree. She did all of the following less then four seconds.

If someone would have seen what she just pulled off, they wouldn't think of her much as a human. It wouldn't be until she explained to them that she had trained her legs all of her life, for them to come up with other excuses for this extraordinary gift. That's why she didn't let her men see her true abilities as a stealth. It would cause too much confusion and nothing would get done about the Enemy.

She stood there on the tree taking one more look around, just incase this was all just a dream. She wanted to see the forest's beauty one last time. She unequipped the scythe from her back and stuck the curved blade, made not of steel but an element, into the tree. The weapon hung there, just low enough for her to grab. She sat down on the branch and rested her back against the tree and let her eyes fall shut. In only moments, she was asleep.

Her dream was about the misty forest. It was so beautiful and so enchanting. The mist, having different sections to it, moving in different ways. The forest, with it's hazy blue glow. It was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

Suddenly, red interrupted into the blue glow. Soon the red grew larger and larger. She realized it was fire! The forest was being caught on fire! She saw the Enemy running through, burning all of it. She saw them rush up to her but when they were clear in sight, she realized it wasn't the Enemy. The two people standing in front of her was William and Vash. They both had blood all over them. They shook their heads and the brought their weapons down on her.

She woke up, in late noon, with a small shriek. She was panting almost as hard as she was the night before. When she was at last able to calm herself and slow her breathing, she couldn't help but going back to the dream. Was it a vision that the Enemy was going to burn this forest down, just to find her? And why was Vash and William the ones that killed her? These were just questions that confused her, and she preferred not to think about them.

She looked around her surroundings and saw that the mist still surrounded her and the forest. It was not the hazy blue that she remembered from the night before, however. Nor were the trees, in fact everything seemed to be how they should be, except for the shifting mist. Though she missed the enchanting forest from the night before, she was happy that it wasn't a dream.

She sat there for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the sun light. It didn't take long for the sun was not really visible. Everything else could bee seen with plain sight, except the sky and the sun. Though the sun could not be seen it was quite warm out, unlike the night before. She shivered at the thought of last night. So many good men she lost that night.

After sitting there for ten minutes, thinking about the night before, she stood up and searched around. She was making sure that the enemy wasn't sitting watch, like a fox does with a cat. When she didn't sense any disturbance nor see any clue of them around, she grabbed her scythe and walked off the branch and landed softly on the loose soil. When she redeemed herself from the landing, she equipped her scythe to her back and then walked around searching for some berries to fill her stomach's hunger.

While walking she couldn't help but stare at her surroundings, especially the shifting mist. She kept going back to her statement, magic doesn't exist. She clearly couldn't explain why the mist shifted the way it did scientifically. It was the most unusual part about this forest, or at least this section of the forest. She couldn't recall being in mist before. She was certain that there wasn't any around when Vash and William did there act of sacrifice to save her life. She had been in England now for two years and have walked through every forest. This place wasn't here in this forest before.

She wondered why she chose to fight with the rebels in England. Also the fact that she searched every forest. Was it because of what she saw that day when she was washed onto that beach. Was she searching for him. She thought that she was here to destroy the Enemy but now being in this forest gave her a feeling that her true purpose was to find him.

That was ridiculous. It's been too long. He was probably dead by now. Her purpose here was to destroy the Enemy. It didn't make a difference where she was, whether she was in England or Rome, she still killed the Enemy. But now it did matter, her group of rebels were now destroyed. Fighting in England was no longer necessary. She had to find a ship that would take her back to the main base in Rome. When she got there she would have to double the ranks and the training for her men. She didn't want the same thing to happen that happened the night before.

While thinking about all of these things, she was being careless where she walked. Her foot got caught in the loop of a stump sticking out of the ground and she fell forward. There wasn't any flat ground to stop her fall though. Instead, she hit the ground at a slant and rolled down the hill. More like tumbled down the hill, rolling off rocks and landing with a hard thump, and continuing to tumble.

When she finally came to a stop, she just laid there in pain. Finally she rolled onto her back, panting heavily. Something tasted unusual in her mouth, something that didn't belong. She rolled over to her side and spat out the clumps of dirt. She then laid back on her back and tried her best to slow her breathing. Something was a little unusual about the surface. It felt soft and moist. She looked over and saw that she was laying on moss.

Relief flourished throughout her body. She knew that if the moss hadn't been there she wouldn't be moving right now. She sat up and looked around to see where she had fallen. But she couldn't see a thing. The mist was much thicker here then it was back where she slept. The odd movement of the mist didn't occur here. It just looked like mist. Thick mist. She couldn't see a thing.

She stood up and walked around. There was a few times when she almost ran into a tree because of the mist. She didn't get far, for there was something that stopped her movement. In front of her was a small lake with mist hovering on top of it. Everything else above the lake was clear, which seemed a little odd to her. _Why is the mist only on top of the lake? _She asked herself.

Something in the middle of the lake caught her eye. There was something hovering over the mist and the lake. She stared harder to try and make out what it was but the mist around her was thick. She stepped into the lake and out of the thick mist. The image was plain and clear to her. There was a man hovering there, incased in a sphere of mist. It came to such total shock to her that she fell back onto the ground.

Was this real? Was she just imagining it? She rubbed her eyes to see if she was just dreaming. But no, this was real and there really was a man floating in the air over the mist. She couldn't believe it, was this even possible?

"Hey!" She shouted.

As if it were a spell that was broken, the sphere of mist disappeared and the man fell into the lake. Shocked by this, the woman unequipped her scythe and took a few steps back. She then ran forward, planted the butt of her scythe into the ground, and launched herself forward, far into the timid lake.

When she was under the water she entered a hole new world. The misty forest at night was nothing compared to this. All around her were sparking water crystal, which brightened all of her surroundings. Like the mist, these water crystals were moving around in patterns. One approached her and ran into her forehead. A whole new jolt of energy jolted through her veins. Her sore muscle aches disappeared. The cuts on her hand and head disappeared. Every harm to her body had vanished with the single touch of a water crystal. It was truly amazing.

It was amazing how clear the water was. She could see everything like she could on land with no mist around. The water crystals glowed a dim maroon, making the water a color of wonder. There was no hint of bacteria or algae particles floating around. The most shocking part about this place was she was still breathing. She couldn't believe it. She was breathing under water!

Something in the far distance caught her eye, some dark figure that didn't belong. She realized it was the man. She was so distracted by her surroundings that she forgot why she came down here in the first place.

Not wasting a second more, she darted towards him. She kicked her legs as hard as she could, trying everything to make her move faster. The water crystals began to shift colors as she got closer to her destination. The where now a bright lime green. This time the water crystals were floating away from her when she got close to them. There movement was a little different from the maroon ones. They moved in colonies, swaying around and moving in circular motions.

She brought her thoughts back onto what she was doing. She got frustrated with herself for being so easily distracted today. But this place, it was so mysterious and alluring. Anyone would be as distracted as she was.

When she reached the man, he was motionless. His medium size hair floated around with the water. He wasn't wearing much, just a grey tunic and tattered up black peasant pants. She grabbed him by his collar and swam back up to the surface.

When she passed the water border and back into her normal atmosphere, a large problem struck her. The mist was thicker here then it was on land. She had no idea where she leapt off. She needed her weapon if she were to continue on her journey to Rome.

She swam in every direction, but kept running into small cliffs. Every time that she did, she used the opportunity to rest by holding onto the cliff's rocks. She would then swim off again trying to find any place that was easy to get on land. She stopped back in the middle of the lake and just floated there. She looked around trying to see a dark purple, the color of her scythe made of the element darkness.

She got a glimpsed of a shifting mist. That must be where it was! She used all of her strength to swim as fast as she could. It wasn't enough though. Even though she had rested on the cliffs her strength was decreasing and the body was dragging her down. She engulfed mouthfuls of water. It was too hard for her to do; she wasn't going to make it.

She let her self sink under the water and into the other world. She saw the maroon water crystals floating around her. One approached her and touched her on her head ever so gently. It dissolved into her head and like before, she felt a pulse of energy surge through the veins in her body. Of course, why didn't she think of that before?

She stayed under water, for she could breathe under there anyways. She pursued on, popping up into the air to make sure she was going the right way. Every time she got tired, a water crystal would dissolve into her head, replenishing her strength.

Soon she reached another new section of the mysterious lake. There were no water crystals here, but instead they were orbs. Little bright yellow orbs floated all around them. They didn't flee like the lime green water crystals nor did they come near like the maroon ones. Instead they just floated there, motionless. When she ran into one, it just bounced to the side and remained there. There was nothing that appealed to her about these ones.

Soon she didn't see any water crystals nor orbs. The water was no longer clear or clean and the only thing she could see in front of her was a dark view. She also noticed that her lungs were inhaling water and not air. She kept herself calm and swam as fast as she could to the surface.

She popped out of the water, gasping for air. At first she couldn't see because of the dirty water in her eyes. When her vision finally came back to her, she was relived to see land in front of her and her scythe's color showed lying on the shore.

She dragged him across the dirt, making him completely filthy. He was much heavier on land then he was underwater. She found a tree with a large trunk and some moss resting up against it. She gently laid his head down on the moss and then quickly checked for a pulse. There was nothing, no pulse. She moved her head to his chest to see if there was a heart beat. Again nothing, the man was dead.

Normally she wouldn't cry over someone she never knew, but in this situation this man's death brought back the memories from the night before. It reminded her of Vash and William. They were her soldiers, her companions, her friends. She slammed her fist into the ground and roared out in anger. Tears were running down her cheek.

She wiped the tears away and then rested her head on the man's chest and fell asleep.

"You know, usually a guy would rest his head in a woman's chest. I guess you really don't listen to "usually." Any how, do you mind not laying on me?" Said a quiet voice.

The woman woke up to this and quickly sat up. She looked at the man and saw him laying there, eyes wide open and staring at right at her. She blinked a few times. _This can't be real, _she thought.

"Am I dreaming? You were dead just a little while ago."

The man responded by pinching her elbow. She retreated her arm back with a small yelp.

"Ow. What did you do that for?" She asked, furious with the man.

"Well, I guess you're not dreaming," the man pointed out.

She glared at him for a bit but then her eyes softened. She couldn't help but noticing how handsome he was. His hair was medium length and was ghost white. He had a well built body structure. His eyes scared her and yet allured her at the same time. His face was a bit dirty from being dragged in the dirt but it didn't make a difference. She regrettably thought he was quite handsome.

The man was staring back at her. His eyes were used to the mist and could see right through its thickness. Her purple hair was shoulder length long. Her eyes were venom green, which caught his attention. These eyes were a dangerous color, something he was always in love with. Her rosy red lips looked soft and gentle. Her cheeks were looked smooth as well. Her chest was medium size, being covered by a tight body shirt that went up to the neck. And her legs were covered by black guy slacks. She wore black high heel leather boots.

He snapped out of his rude examination and was ready to bring the conversation back up. The woman realized this and stopped her examination as well. She started to speak but shut her mouth when the man cut her off.

"Do I know you?" he asked.

"I don't think so," she responded in a whisper.

"Oh. Thought I did. Hmp, whatever."

She was curious as to why he looked a little upset. Was he hoping that she was a relative or perhaps even a lover? Those weren't the only questions going on through her head. Why was he floating over the water? Maybe he knew.

"Why were you floating over the water, incased in a sphere of mist?" she questioned.

"What do you mean?"

"When I stumbled into this area I saw you hovering over the middle of the lake incased in a sphere of mist. I called out and the mist disappeared." She answered wondering if he even really knew.

"I don't I know why. But that if all of this did happen, that must mean you rescued me."

"Um yeah I guess."

The man smiled and pushed himself up resting his back against the tree. The truth was he really did know why he was floating there and who this woman was or could be. He wasn't really certain. It was the reason why he didn't tell her.

"Who are you?" he asked trying to get some more information. He didn't want to tell her anything if she was an Enemy spy.

"I'm the leader of the rebellions," she spurted out without hesitating. She couldn't believe that she said that. What if he was a spy for the Enemy? Irony.

"Really? What's your name?" he asked not satisfied with the first answer.

She was about to say something but then stopped when she realized there was nothing to say. She didn't know her name. She wasn't even sure if she was given one. Her men called her darkness, for that was her scythe's element. Each leader for every rebellion wasn't addressed by their name. Instead they were addressed by the element their weapon was made out of. They technically called her Lady Darkness, since she was the leader of all the rebellions.

She looked at the man and saw that he was growing impatient. He started to ask again but was stopped when she said, "I don't have a name. I was born an orphan and grew up alone. To survive I had to become a stealth, a thief. It was a hard life for me to endure but I survived. Soon I became the leader of all of the rebellions around the world." That was going too far. She had to stop telling this man all about her.

"I'm sorry to hear that? I too was an orphan, but I stayed most of my life with friends. It's hard not having parents."

"Thank you. By the way, what's you're name?" she asked.

"I… also do not know or at least I don't remember," he lied.

"You probably have amnesia."

"Yeah, probably." He responded not telling her the actual truth.

She seemed to be who he was looking for or at least not a spy. There was now only one question left to see if she was the one he was looking for. Or at least a few more questions that may lead up to what he needed to know.

"What made you want to start up a resistance?" he asked, knowing she was going to find the question suspicious.

"What does it matter to you?"

"Just a simple question." He responded coolly not showing any hint a suspicion in his eyes.

Just as he thought, the woman felt uncomfortable with this question. How could she really trust this man? She already told him more then enough about him. Could she really tell the secret that she knew? The secret that she didn't want anyone else to know about.

"Why should I tell you? I hardly even know you," she tested, wondering what brilliant response he would come up with. The man chuckled to himself, knowing without any doubt she wasn't a spy. She was just as worried as he was.

"You're right. For all you know I could be a spy. You've already told me everything about yourself. You're probably thinking that it was a mistake. I will not pressure you to answer the question. If you do not wish to answer it that is quite alright," he responded in a noblemen's voice.

_He's good, _she thought. He just said everything she was thinking. She wanted to tell him but grabbed a hold of herself. He could be tricking her into feeling comfortable with him. She decided to take the offer and she didn't respond.

"Allow me to change the subject. Do you have any food?" he asked after sitting there for a brief moment of silence.

"Actually I was looking for some earlier but then I fell into this place."

"I see. Well there is no around here. Let's go back to the shifting mist. We're bound to find something there," he said standing up and dusting himself off. She was curious of how he knew all of this and not his own name.

"You know where you're at?" she asked standing up with him. He realized he slipped and quickly came up with a new excuse.

"Yeah, I remember this place being my home for a while. Then suddenly I woke up under your head. I really don't know how long I was asleep or when I was incased in the mist." He responded, walking off to where the woman was stumbling.

He saw where she rolled down and shook his head, chuckling to himself. He went a little ways to the right of the spot and started hiking up steps. She followed and saw that these steps where made of wood. He must have built them himself.

After hiking up for three minutes, they finally reached the top where she had tripped. The mist suddenly changed and she could see her surroundings again. She also could she that the mist was shifting again. It brought happiness to her being back in this place. She didn't like seeing the thick mist.

She looked at the man who was a little ahead of her. His image was much clearer then it was before. She wished that he would turn around to see the color of his eyes. For some reason they seemed so frightening. Yet she was also attracted to them, but she didn't know why. Maybe if she saw the color she could analyze this.

He turned so many times, she lost where she was. Maybe he was alluring her away from the lake. She looked back and saw no sign of any tracks. When she lifted her foot off the ground she saw the mist sweep down to the foot print and when it left the foot print was gone. She never noticed that before, why would it do that? This strange mist was beginning to scare her more and more.

She looked forward and saw that the man was gone. She searched around her surroundings but she couldn't find him. Was this a trap? Did he lure her to the Enemy? She looked all around, searching for any sign of the Enemy. She turned around and saw the man right in front of her. He had some berries in his hands.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

"I went looking for food and then realized that you weren't anywhere to be found. Hungry?"

They walked over to the nearest tree and sat down next to it. They feasted on the berries and then laid down until they were both asleep.


	3. Chapter 2

II

II

No Longer Welcomed

The night was warm and bright. Or at least brighter then the night before. The wind was quiet and did not disturb the forest. Or at least not this part of the forest. A forest filled with hazy blue mist.

The man and woman sat against the hazy blue tree, looking at a piece of mist in front of them. It first shifted up and then circled. It moved side to side and then back down. It continued this pattern three times and then changed it around. It spun in circles vertically and then horizontally clockwise. Soon it stopped and then spun the other way around. After spinning for a minute it stopped again. The little piece of mist broke of into five smaller pieces. They circled around each other as though they were performing a dance for the two. It was quite an unusual mist.

The woman's eyes gazed at the performance. She had seen the mist's magic the night before but never like. Magic? She couldn't believe that she used that word. Was she beginning to think that this place worked by magic? She shook her head and cleared the thoughts out of her head.

The young man noticed this but didn't respond. The mists beauty allured the gaze of his eyes. Those unusual eyes. They seemed as real as the mist that was performing for them.

"Are you wondering why the mist moves like that?" he finally asked, his voice low and faint.

She looked at him in curiosity and wondered how he knew that. This man seemed to always be able to read her thoughts. It frightened her on how much he actually knew. She still had no idea if she could trust this man. So far he hadn't leaded her into any traps nor has she seen the Enemy appear. But still, she didn't want to get too comfortable and let her guard down.

"You would know the answer to that question?" she asked, staring back at the mist.

"Of course I do. This is after all my forest. I know everything about this place," he responded resting his head against the tree. The bark scratched his head softly making a slight irritation, which was hardly noticed

"Your forest? But isn't this the King of England's forest. It is after all in his country."

"The King. Hmp. No he doesn't own this forest. He may think he owns the forest that seems normal but this area is a place he doesn't own. This place is my home. And if I see any of the King's men I will chase them off."

"And how would you do that? You can't just chase off men with weapons when you have none of your own," she responded, and she was beginning to think that he was crazy.

"I don't need a weapon. I have the mist."

"Oh? And what would the mist do to them?"

"This mist that you're looking at. It doesn't exist. It's an illusion. The shifting of the mist gets people lost. Actually the mist isn't really moving at all. Your mind plays tricks on you. Say you were over there by that tree," he pointed to a tree ten feet away to the right, "you could be looking at this mist in front of us and start walking towards it. You'll move around trees and branches but you won't ever really reach it. In fact your not walking towards this tree, you're walking in a totally different direction. What I'm trying to say is, the mist moves the forest around, making things seem the way shouldn't. Only at night is when people can move around with out loosing there way. The hazy blue trees defeat the illusion and the mind tricks. Though it is still not easy to find your way around. The only way to get around is if the forest welcomes you."

_He's totally out of his mind, _she thought when he was done explaining the forest's mystery to her. She didn't believe a word he said. She rather think that the place was magical, rather then what he said. She made it to the strange lake just find. She didn't loose her way by looking at the mist. Then again, she wasn't looking at the mist and it was an accident that she fell down there. But still, she didn't believe him.

He looked at her and noticed her eyes were filled with doubt and disbelief. He wanted to say something but he held his tongue. Nothing he said would make her believe him. He tried putting his hand her shoulder but she pushed it away. She sat there looking down at the ground.

"You're not being forced to stay here. If you want you can leave; I won't stop you," he said standing up.

She looked up at him and saw him staring off into the distance. She didn't believe that he was a spy anymore but she still didn't trust him and certainly didn't want to be near him. She stood up and ran. The man did as he said, he didn't try and stop her.

She ran through the woods as fast as she could. Her lungs were pumping in the oxygen hard and fast. She stopped briefly to catch her breath and then began running again. She didn't know exactly where she was going, she was just running in a straight line heading east. At least she thought she was running in a straight line but something seemed a little odd. _Maybe what he said was right, _she thought. But her thoughts disappeared when she saw the end of the mist.

She gathered the last of her strength and sprinted for the clearing. It seemed to take longer then she thought. It seemed close when she first saw it but it didn't feel that way. It seemed to stay in the same place the whole time she was running and soon it seemed to be getting farther away from her. Soon she couldn't even see it anymore.

She was beyond confused. _How is this possible? _She asked herself. Was it true? Was what the man said really true? It seemed crazy to her at first but now she was beginning to believe him. The mist had tricked her. But wait, didn't he say that when the trees were blue you could find your way around? Maybe that was only true for those who knew their way around.

She didn't dare try going back. She was afraid she would get even more lost. No, she had to find a way out of this place on her own. She ran back the way she came, looking around to see if she could see the opening again. She had been running for two minutes when she suddenly stopped. There it was! The opening that she saw before.

She ran towards it, this time though she stopped every once in a while to make sure it was coming closer. She turned where she was running, realizing that she wasn't going the right way. She did this several times and realized that it was working. She was getting closer to the opening.

At last! She reached the exit of this place. She turned and looked at it's beauty and misconception one last time. She then turned and walked back into the world she was used to. But she was surprised when all she saw was more mist. _What happened?_ She wondered. She turned around and saw only mist. Another trick.

She ran again until she found the opening. She made sure this time that she walked into it but again she only saw mist once she passed it. She did this six more times and after the sixth failure the sun began to rise. She didn't have much time left. Not if what the man said was true. She would never get out of this place once the trees color left.

She gave it one more try. She found the opening, which looked like it lead to her destroyed camp. She was a little hesitant at first, not sure if she wanted to see its horrific scenery. But she felt like she had no choice if she wanted to leave this place. She began her routine again. She didn't take as long as all the other times, knowing that the sun was almost in clear sight. She could already see the trees loose their hazy blue color.

She got there right when night had only a few more seconds left. She closed her eyes and pictured her campsite the way it was before all of this. She took a step into the real and out of the fiction. But when she opened her eyes she cursed in fury. The mist was still in front of her and the sun was now visible. The forest had gone back to its normal color, grey.

"Let Me Out Of Here God Damn It!" she cursed at the top of her lungs while falling to her knees. She laid on the ground and began striking the earth.

Her hair was covering her face. She brushed it aside and sat up. She didn't notice at first her new surroundings. She was more frustrated with the forest, the mist, and that man! _Curse him and his forest! He tricked me into believing that I could leave. He's probably still at that tree laughing. Cures HIM! _ Her thoughts screamed in her head.

She looked around and her heart filled with more rage. There in front of her were six Enemies. _I knew he was spy!_ She reached for her back to grab her scythe but was stunned when she felt nothing but the cloths on her back. _Did I leave it with that man or at the lake? _She couldn't answer the questions. It didn't matter where the scythe was except for that it wasn't with her.

"Is that her?" one of them asked the other.

"I don't see the General's scythe," another replied.

"Who cares, let us just kill her anyways," one said, taking out his claymore made of ice.

_General's scythe? What are they talking about? _She wondered.

The man watched behind the trees. In his hand was the woman's scythe. But he did not run out to return it to her. Instead he stayed hidden to hear what was happening.

"Decro? What are they doing here?" he whispered to himself.

His fist clenched and his emotions arose. He stood up and walked out into plain sight. The bushes stirred letting his presence be known.

The Enemy, who had the claymore made out of ice, approached the kneeling woman. It's shadow cast over her. He stopped abruptly when he heard the bushes stir. He turned around and saw a man walking over to him with a scythe in his had. The Enemy stepped back when he saw that the scythe was made out of darkness.

"That's it! That's the General's scythe. What are you doing with it?" the enemy asked the stranger.

The man got closer to the Enemy, ignoring it's question. When he approached them both, he threw the scythe down next to the woman. Before the Enemy new what was happening he fell to the ground, as the woman jumped up and stuck her scythe into his chest.

The man looked at the other Enemies and grinned. He got into a fighting stance that the woman had never seen before. The woman assumed that he was actually dancing. His feet where constantly switching positions while his arms were swaying back and forth.

"Never thought I would see the Decro here," the man commented.

"Decro?" the woman asked, never hearing the name before.

"That's the name of these fowl beast. There name."

The Decros took out their claymores and advanced forward. The three with claymores made out of wind, water, and mist, went after the woman, while the other two went after the man. Their claymores were made out of ice and lightning.

The man kicked a rock into one of the Decro before it was even within five feet of him. The Decro stepped back from the hit and then advanced forward again. But it was all the time the man needed to run up to the Decro and attack it. His fist slammed into the Decro's metal head, bruising the bones of his knuckles but he felt no pain. The Decro fell back and landing on the ground with a loud _thud. _

The young man stepped on the Decro's hand, which held the lightning claymore. He made a swift motion with his foot, which broke the grip and threw the sword in the air. The young man caught the sword and then drove down right through the Decro. Immediately he pulled out the weapon and guarded the other Decro's attack.

The two weapons bounced off each other when they collided. The young man swung the sword in a circle until the tip of the blade was pointing towards the Decro. The Decro was off balance by the block and its sword was high over its head. Not waiting a second later, the young man lunged his sword into the Decro's sternum with such force that the element blade went right through the Decro. The young man yanked out the sword and removed the hair covering his eyes, which were running drops of sweat down its strands.

His arm began to tremble and his hand went numb. Soon he couldn't hold his weapon and it fell to the ground, bouncing twice. His legs felt a little weak and his knee caps buckled. He eventually blacked out and fell to the ground.

The woman swung the scythe over her head, hitting the Enemy in front of her with the shaft. She then swung the tip through its metal sternum. Without even pulling the weapon out, the woman went to one knee letting the other two blades swing over her head. She picked up her dead opponent's claymore and swung it vertically up catching one enemy between the legs. She kept the sword moving up until it reached the metal covered neck. She then twisted the blade and pushed to the side taking the sword out while removing the head.

The young woman switched how she held the sword and stabbed behind her, sticking the other Enemy in the diaphragm. She let go of the weapon as the Enemy dropped and went to grab her own weapon. After she pulled it out of the Enemy she saw the young man on the ground.

Without realizing what she was doing she dashed over to him. She knelt beside him and flipped him on his back. She then checked for a pulse, which she was relieved to feel. She figured that he blacked out, judging by the sweat that covered his face.

She sat the for the longest time, just looking at his face. Not admiring it though, she was more studying it. She felt like she knew this face, like she's seen it. She had this weird gut feeling that this young man was the legendary Hart. But she soon shook off the feeling, knowing that was ridiculous. Hart was dead and if he wasn't he wouldn't look this young. But maybe he was a descendent of Hart, maybe.

Her thoughts were stolen when the young man's eyes opened, gazing into hers. For a while all they did was stare into each other's eyes, allured by their color and beauty.

"Well it would seem I have taken a liking to waking up to your face," commented Hart.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine," he replied, standing up. He felt a little dazed at first but he shook it off and walked over to one of the Enemies. He bent over and picked up the mist claymore and sheaved it within his belt.

"Well Lady Darkness, it would seem that the Decro have taken an interest in you. Even one of the Generals himself seems to be a little upset," said the young man, as he softly kicked the dead piece of metal.

"What do you mean one of the Generals? Just how many Generals do these creatures need," she asked, strapping the scythe to her back.

"You don't know much about the Decro do you Lady Darkness? Oh well, best that you don't know," he said walking towards a pitcher that wasn't destroyed in the previous nights attack. He took a sip out of the wine and then threw it to the side, shattering it into pieces. He could feel the liquid replenish his dry throat.

"And why can't I know? And why are you calling me Lady Darkness?" the woman questioned in protest.

"Because I don't know your name and it's tradition to call a rebellion by their weapons name and the rank of their status," replied Hart, walking into the forest and waving his hand to follow.

She obeyed without further adue, although she did wonder how he knew so much about the rebellion. As she followed in thought, she didn't realize that they were back in the mist. She seemed used to it and not concerned by its presence. But that didn't last forever.

"No! Why are we back in the mist?" she moaned in protest.

"It's safer this way. We won't have any Decro following us. Don't worry we'll be out of it in no time," replied the young man from a distance as he paused in his tracks, waiting for her to catch up.

They continued on for a good two miles before the mist began to lighten up until it was nothing but air itself. The young man stopped and so did the woman. There before them was a trail that lead south and north. The trail was barely visible but it was enough to be recognized as a trail.

"That code of the rebellions, did Hart make that code?" she asked suddenly.

"Yes. Or at least I would think he did. The Decro have access to all of us. If they hear our name, they know where to find us. So he made a code to call each other by their weapons name and the status of their rank. You are the head of the rebels are you not?"

"I am."

"So then you are ranked as Lady Darkness instead of Miss Darkness or Maiden Darkness," said the young man.

The woman just stood there for a moment looking off into the woods. The name seemed to have a ring to it. It was better then Madam or Milady.

"Lady Darkness. Huh, I kind of like it. Very well I shall use that name from now on. And what should I call you, Sir Mist?" she asked joking.

"It doesn't matter for you won't see me again," the man replied ignoring the joke.

"Why?" the woman questioned disappointed in hearing him say that.

"Because I'm banning you from my forest," he answered pointing to where the trail lead south.

"What!? What do you mean banning me?" she asked, in shock.

"The Decro are after you because of your weapon and because of your rank. Personally I don't want anything to do with them and neither does the forest."

She was shocked to even hear him say this. She thought he was here to help her she even thought he might be a descendent of Hart. But he just proved her wrong.

"I was actually hoping that you might join me in the rebellion, you seem to be a good fighter. Why don't you come with?" she suggested.

"If you follow the trail south it will lead you out of the forest and to the ocean. There is a small boat there you may use it to return to Old Europe as a gift of my appreciation," he said, ignoring the offer. And with that he left and soon disappeared, most likely into the mist Lady Darkness presumed.

She walked down the trail not waiting a second longer. By sunset she had reached the beach but there was no boat. Had he lied? Had he tricked her? But her troubles were laid to rest when she saw a plank of wood sticking out of the sand. _Very clever, _she thought realizing the boat was buried under the sand to hide from the Enemy.

She looked back at the forest one last time and then she went to work in retrieving her way home.


	4. Chapter 3

III

III

A Pack & Some Ammo

The streets were dark and dangerous. This place was the last place anyone wanted to be in and the first place Vylex decided to investigate. He paced down the streets in a cocky manner, afraid of nothing. This dark and gloomy place, which used to be called Broadway, fit his taste for taking evening strolls in. But it wasn't just an ordinary stroll, no this was a quest to find something precious to Vylex.

He stopped in the middle of the streets to take out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. The pack was light, almost as light as a feather. Vylex wrapped his fingers around it and then squeezed his hand into a fist, compressing the pack. He brought his purple lips slowly to the crumbled pack and wrapped them around the filter of his last cigarette. He pulled the cigarette out and threw the pack to the side, while retrieving a Zippo lighter from his pocket. He lit the cigarette and let the smoke flow down his throat into his lungs. He blew the smoke out and put the lighter away. He then continued walking into the dark.

Now most people would be afraid to walk in this part of the world alone and in the dark. For this place was Old America, the most forbidden place on the planet. But Vylex, however, wasn't alone.

If you were standing on the sidewalks and saw Vylex pass, you would notice that ten feet behind him trailed two neon green eyes. These eyes followed Vylex, watching him, guarding him.

Vylex suddenly paused for a moment. The moon had finally revealed itself from behind the clouds and Vylex could see a broken down gas station in front of him.

The moon was full and revealed everything in its light. There standing in the middle of the streets was a young man about five foot eleven inches. His face was smooth and clean. His hair was an inch long and was dyed a dark purple. His eyes were crystal blue with black eyeliner on the lids. He wore a long black trench coat with a muscle shirt under that. He had baggy black pants on with red lining in them and colorful bullet studs attached to them. He wore black gloves with no finger tips and his finger nails were black. His feet were concealed in black combat boots. The belt around his waist also had the colorful bullet studs attached around it.

The neon green eyes that trailed behind him turned out to be a wolf. The wolf's silver coat of fur was thick and had a gleam to it. The wolf wasn't very big but its eyes followed Vylex wherever he went, making sure no harm was upon him. The wolf's steps were stealthy, making a mouse seem loud.

Vylex opened the left side of his trench coat and withdrew his handcrafted black revolver with his right hand. He let the gun hang to his side as he approached the gas station.

The gas station door was broken down making the entrance very tight but Vylex seemed to manage his way in with ease, except for dropping his cigarette from his mouth.

"SHIT!" he yelled as he tried to reach for it. The wolf, with fast haste, sprinted to the cigarette and retrieved it for Vylex. Vylex took the smoke from the wolf's mouth and put it back in his mouth while petting the wolf. "Thanks," Vylex said in gratitude.

Vylex continued into the gas station as the moon went back in retreat behind the clouds. The place was completely dark, even Vylex couldn't see anything. The wolf on the other hand was fully capable of seeing in the dark with its neon green eyes and darted off into the store. Vylex took out his Zippo and flicked on the light. He put his hand out in front of him revealing the dust and cobweb in the gas station, along with the broken glass and knocked over shelves.

Vylex walked over to the drink section and took out a beer from behind the broken glass door. It was warm, really warm and it tasted horrible when it washed down Vylex's throat.

"One hundred year old crap, yuck!" he complained throwing it to the side.

He swept some of the dirt off of the floor and then sat on it setting his gun next to him and complaining how it was dirtying his beautiful coat. He smoked the very end of his cigarette and then threw it out. He could hear its heat fizz out when it hit the spilt beer. He sighed in disappointment, he had traveled all the way to Old America from Gaul or Old France, in search for a pack of cigarettes and in doing so he had wasted all of his own without being reassured that he would find another one. So far every other gas station had proven unsuccessful and this was the last one he was willing to search in. He was ready to return to take a bath and get out of these ridiculously dirty clothes.

He could hear the wolf searching around for what he was looking for. Of course what he was searching for was forbidden and was destroyed ages ago but every now and then Vylex would come across a pack of cigarettes. If he was really lucky he would find a pack of Turkish Royals or Lucky Strikes… if he was lucky. Generally they were Marlboro Reds his least favorite.

"Any luck? I'm getting tired of this gloomy place," Vylex complained flicking open his Zippo and then flicking it back close. The wolf replied with a little whimper. "I know I'm just as gloomy but still this place is filled with dust and old food. I'm not that bad."

The wolf didn't reply but went back to searching. After running its nose against the soft dust for a good five feet, making a little clean trail, it came across something very familiar. It snatched the item in its jaws and then leaped back to Vylex.

When the wolf approached him, he whimpered and Vylex froze in motion. After sitting there for ten seconds, Vylex reached out his hand and grabbed the rectangular prism from the wolf's mouth.

At last! He had found what he was looking for. He patted the wolf's head satisfied with his companions work. He then began packing the pack of cigarettes. The wolf leaped off into the dark again and came back with another pack.

"Two?" Vylex asked, taking the second pack and putting it in his trench coat pocket, "what are the odds of finding two packs?"

He unwrapped the plastic from the first pack and opened its lid. He tore off the foil and pulled out a cigarette. He took his Zippo and lit the cigarette and then put the Zippo away. Vylex coughed hard at his first inhale of the smoke. He always coughed at the first cigarette of a new pack that was a hundred years old. But it didn't matter, as long as he had a cigarette in his mouth he was fine.

Vylex put the pack away in his right pocket, grabbed his gun, and stood up. He walked out of the gas station and back into the open air of the dead. But when he got out he stopped when a bright light show upon him. It was too bright for Vylex's eyes for they were used to the dark. But that wasn't what was on Vylex's mind. For there in front of him stood ten of the metal creatures which the human race called the Enemy. To him it was a lame name but it wasn't very important to him. To him they were just an obstacle between him and his nicotine desire.

Each Enemy stood there with an element weapon in their hand. The one in the center carried a Chinese Falchion made out of fire. Vylex had learned in previous that those with a fire weapon were in charge of the group or at least the best fighter of them. But there was also one with a trident made out of darkness. Those were the assassin type, one of the more deadlier kind of Enemy. The one with the weapon made out of darkness stood to the right of the one with the fire weapon.

The other's had broadswords made of ice, earth, lightning, wind, snow, ice again, water, and wind again. Each of them was a foot behind the two in front, with their weapons' points pointing up. The two in front were talking amongst each other in a language unknown to Vylex. The language was like a hum in a weird tune. It was annoying Vylex and he wasn't in the mood for getting his day ruined.

He looked straight at the Enemy who was holding the fire weapon. If he took that one out first the others would be useless by themselves. His hand gripped the revolver. The Enemy noticed this and stopped humming.

"You have violated the rules that are bestowed upon you. Therefore you shall be punished for the following. For your first charge being in what you humans call Old America. For your second charge smoking a cigarette. For your third charge, having been able to light the cigarette would require fire, which requires a lighter. The possession of this is strictly prohibited, technology will not be allowed," said the Enemy with the fire weapon.

Vylex's eyes gazed on the stealth Enemy, waiting for him to make his move. He took the cigarette out of his mouth, blew out the smoke, and then put it back.

"What's with this charge on smoking? I wasn't aware that it was a crime," commented Vylex, looking back at the leader of the group.

"Smoking is bad for your health and won't be tolerated!" shouted one of the Enemies from the back, holding the snow broadsword.

Vylex looked down at the ground where his foot was sweeping back and forth on the gravel making an irritating noise. He snickered at the comment that the Enemy shouted.

"Since when did you ass holes care about my health?" questioned Vylex, letting the cigarette drop out of his mouth and then stomping it out with his boot.

"Silence! You will come with us for punishment! Resistance will only bring you death. In addition to your punishment you must hand over all illegal items," ordered the leader.

Vylex looked up and grinned at the group of Enemies. He pulled out his Zippo and flicked it open and sparked the fire.

"You've forgotten the charge of having this," said Vylex, flicking the Zippo close and lifting up his gun to the leader. He fired a single shot but was disappointed to hear the bullet bounce off of the armor.

The leader would have laughed at Vylex's stupidity but there was an angry rage that took a hold of it. Guns. The most forbidden of them all. How this young man even acquired on was a mystery for they were all destroyed. The Generals saw to that personally.

Vylex didn't notice the shock of the Enemies. He was more upset of his own stupidity. He quickly opens up the cartridge and dumped out all of the metal bullet. As he was doing this he reached behind the right side of his trench coat and pulled out a second revolver.

Not waiting for a command, the assassin Enemy went for Vylex just as he pulled out the second revolver. The Enemy's speed was swift, almost as swift as a bullet. That was all the time Vylex needed to raise the his left gun up to the Enemy's head and pull the trigger. A loud bang echoed through the sky, ringing in Vylex's ears.

Water dripped from the left red revolver. The Enemy he had fired at was stopped in its tracks. Vylex slid the right black revolver up his pant legs, letting the colorful bullet studs fill the slots. He flipped the cartridge close as the assassin Enemy fell before him. The armor bounced on the ground and then bounced again. It made a hollow cling in the air every time it hit the broken up gravel. Vylex had learned not to long ago that when an Enemy dies the armor is all that's left of the body. He didn't know why but then again he didn't really care.

The whole group of Enemies took a single step back in shock. How was this possible? How did a gun pierce their armor? It didn't make sense.

Vylex smiled a vampire smile at the sight of this. They were at his mercy. He had unleashed the newest weapon upon them and they were beyond afraid. How much better could it get. He was now their most feared enemy.

The only problem was this petrifying spell wore off of the leader sooner then Vylex expected. The leader charged at Vylex but was knocked down by the wolf, whom shot out of nowhere. The leader swung at the wolf with the flame blade but the wolf jumped back avoiding the attack. The wolf snarled at the Enemy as it jumped to its feet. But just as soon as the Enemy leader jumped up it fell back down.

Another loud bang flew through the air as Vylex pulled the trigger. Grains of sand fell from the right revolver. Without waiting for the leader Enemy to drop, Vylex crossed his arms and fired single shots with both guns, dropping two of the back Enemies. The black revolver heated up and turned red while the red gun had sparks come out of it.

Vylex changed his arm positions to where one gun was on top of the other and he fired two shots with each gun. Four more Enemies dropped before they even realized that the two before them were dead. Vylex let the guns hang to his side as the six followed the leader and the assassin. The four that were left looked at each other and then charged at Vylex.

Vylex put his left revolver back behind his coat and pulled out his pack of cigarettes. He pulled out a cigarette with his mouth and put the pack away. He then lit the cigarette with his lighter and turned to the side to smoke. He lifted his right arm up to the side while looking forward and holding the cigarette in his mouth with his left hand. He fired four shots with the revolver, hitting each Enemy in their metal covered head. The armor fell to the ground bouncing off of it a few times. Vylex shook his head and smiled. He put the revolver back behind his trench coat and took the cigarette out of his mouth. He blew out the smoke and then put cigarette back in his mouth.

Leaving the cigarette there he put his hands in his coat pockets and started walking off but stopped suddenly. He gazed up, opening his mouth wide enough for the cigarette to fall out. There in front of him was an Enemy ship. But this wasn't just any ordinary ship, this ship was a speeder. It had the same design as an old jet, except twenty times faster and can fifty times better defense coverage. You could run into a mountain full speed in that ship and it will just put a dent into the ship.

Vylex had flown one of these a long time ago, the first time he stole one from the Enemy. It was a faster way to get home. With just a few repairs he could adjust the manual controls to his own style. But he would have to get rid of the locator first. It wasn't too hard if you knew where to find it. Luckily for Vylex, he accidentally stumbled upon it the first time he stole one of these ships.

While Vylex gazed upon his prize, the wolf gathered up all of the weapons in a pile. Vylex noticed this and went over to the pile to load the pile on the ship. But as soon as he took his first step he stopped and turned back around to pick up his cigarette that had fallen from his mouth. He then went back to the weapon pile and began picking each one up and putting it in the ship.

"A pack, some ammunition, and a speeder, this is what I call jackpot. And I was beginning to think that today was actually a bad day," he paused for a moment to chuckle, "boy I guess I was wrong. Well let's get the rest of these loaded up and go back to Gaul."

The wolf followed the command and collected the rest of the weapons while Vylex sat in the cockpit. There were all these codes on the dash board, which Vylex didn't understand but he didn't need to. He pulled out his black revolver and pointed it at the controls and fired a single shot. A light shined around the gun but soon vanished. Vylex slammed the butt of the gun on the controls and he could hear the motor turning on. He then pointed the gun at a square with a symbol on it and pulled the trigger. The bullet shot right through and Vylex could hear a beeping sound go off throughout the ship. Vylex pointed the gun at the source of this sound and pulled the trigger but was disappointed when he heard a, _click. _Instead of reloading the gun he just through it at the light bulb that was making the irritating noise. The bulb shattered, the sound stopped, and the gun hit the floor in the back of the ship. The wolf picked up the gun and returned it to Vylex.

"Tracking device deactivated, start code destroyed, and ammo on ship. Let's get going," Vylex said as the wolf dropped the gun in his lap, "thank you."

Vylex gripped the control stick and raised the speeder in the air. He then pushed a button and the speeder darted forward. Soon they were over the Ocean and heading into the rising horizon.

In a half hour, Vylex was in Tours, Gaul. The old Tours of France had been destroyed and was relocated at the bottom of Gaul near the Ocean. But Vylex wasn't planning on going to Tours, but instead kept heading south to and unnamed island. Most of the island was covered with palm trees except for a thirty foot by fifty foot rectangle of soil right in front of a broken down shack.

The shack's roof was broken down and the windows were missing their glass. Most of the walls had collapsed. Next to the shack was a small garden with little buds sticking out of the ground. It was more of a small tobacco garden that Vylex was trying to grow.

Vylex landed the speeder on the rectangle of dirt right in front of the shack. When he landed he noticed he had knocked down one or two of the palm trees from the speeder's air force. He got out of the ship and noticed a man walking towards him.

Vylex recognized the man to be his servant Philippe. Philippe was an average size man, almost as tall as Vylex. His hair was slicked to the side. His face was rough and flat and was pale like Vylex's face. He had scruffy side burns going down the side of his jaw bone and in to his chin. He wore a tight white button up tunic with a black vest over that and a black jacket over that. He wore black leather gloves and black shoes that went up to his ankles. He wore loose black pants with a tight belt around them.

"_Bonjour Monsieur, ca __va__?_" Philippe asked.

"_Oui__bien_," Vylex replied.

"_Commo__est ce que__tu__ voyage?_" Philippe asked.

"_Moi__bien__, merci," _replied Vylex.

"_Est__…"_

"Philippe. _Je prefere parler Anglais__," _Vylex interrupted.

"Very well sir. I don't see why though, you are after all the son of a Gaul Count," commented Philippe bowing his head.

"What does that have to do with speaking French or English? Besides, Count Theral isn't my father," Vylex said, patting his leg for the wolf to come. The wolf walked out of the ship and followed at a distance as Vylex walked towards the shack. "Have the men put the ship below," Vylex ordered.

"Monsieur, you know that the Count is respected man and that he has made peace with the Enemy. It would be wise not to put that peace at stake. You know what happened last time when you were caught with that ship. You should really stop all of this nonsense and live a life at your father's side," Philippe warned and recommended.

"You say this every time Philippe. I don't need to hear it again and again. I remember what happened and I remembered why it happened. Why do you think we are located on an unnamed island where there isn't a tavern within six hundred miles of here? Besides, what I do is fun and amusing. I wouldn't want to become friends with the Enemy, I already kill them enough as it is. Now, get that ship down below."

"As you wish," said Philippe, bowing his head again and then going into the ship.

Vylex some how made his way into the broken down shack. It would seem almost impossible unless you've been in and out of it a few times. But just by looking at it you wouldn't even consider going in it. Not unless you knew what was in it.

Vylex made his way to the middle of the shack. He then went down to one knee and swept away some dust covering a hatchet. He unlocked the hatchet and opened up the secret passage. The passage had a spiral of stairs leading down to its secret. Vylex walked down these stairs to his secret fortress. The wolf followed and shut the door behind it.

You couldn't really describe this place really as a fortress. It was more of a town down there. In the middle was a large factory machine making the colorful bullets that were on Vylex's pants. Around this place were doors leading to rooms. There were workers everywhere. In the back part of the cave was a large opening, which Vylex's new ship filled. He could see a few workers taking out the weapons while others were already working on fixing the controls.

A man in a three piece black suit approached Vylex.

"Welcome back Vylex," he said, patting the wolf on the head.

"Kent my friend, how are you?" Vylex asked giving him a hug.

"Quite well. I've been a little busy while you were away but other then that everything is going fine," Kent said, when Vylex and him kept walking down the stairs. They reached a bench and sat on it.

"What were you working on while I was gone?" asked Vylex pulling out a cigarette and lighting it.

"Your going to love it. It's my latest model and suits me quite well. Hey Henry bring it over!" Kent shouted to a fellow worker with a hammer in his hand. The worker walked over with a silver two barrel shotgun in his hand. Kent gratefully bowed his head and took the weapon. "A shot gun that can shoot the same kind of ammo as your revolvers," he said, handing it to Vylex.

"Very nice," said Vylex, taking out the cigarette from his mouth and holding up the shotgun. "Speaking of ammo, I brought some back with me."

"Catch yourself a couple of Enemies?" Kent asked.

"Ten. One with a flame weapon and one with a darkness weapon," Vylex said, handing the shotgun back to Kent and putting the cigarette back in his mouth.

"Nice. Killing the important ones. You're just lucky they don't know it is you," commented Kent setting the shotgun to his side. "It still has a few modification to it but so far it's a beauty."

Vylex handed the cigarette to Kent who gratefully took it and put it in his mouth. Vylex then stood up and walked into the middle of the factory.

"May I have everyone's attention please!" he shouted. The whole place got quiet and all the workers laid their eyes on Vylex. "Thank you. I would like every section to turn in their report to my room later on this evening. I would also like the bullet technicians to make some more rounds for my gun with the new weapons that I brought over. I would also like them to work on making new rounds for the new modeled shotgun. Now I would like the report on the Enemy right this instance. That's all."

Two men came running up to Vylex when he was done speaking.

"Monsieur, we caught an Enemy checking out our perimeter and were able to capture him," one of them said.

"Your orders Monsieur?" asked the other.

"Bring it out to me when the new bullets are done," ordered Vylex.

"Oui Monsieur!" they both shouted and then they turned and left.

Vylex walked back over to Kent who was petting the wolf. The wolf had its tongue sticking out and was panting at the attention.

"Well did he do well on his first mission?" asked Kent.

"Yes, very well indeed. I'm thinking though of giving him an upgrade later on. He was completely useless fighting the Enemy with those bare teeth of his. But none the less he fought fearlessly. Now, I think I'm going to go clean up and rest. Have the men give their reports later on this evening when I wake up."

"Of course. I think you will be most pleased with your new wardrobe. It's hanging in your room," said Kent, throwing out the cigarette.

"Thank you," replied Vylex pulling out another cigarette and lighting it.

He walked off towards his room with the wolf following at his side. When he got into his room he let his trench coat slide off of his shoulders. His gloves ran all the way up to his elbow, right below two tattoos. The tattoo on the right arm was skull with cross bones while the other one on the left was a black filled in circle with red squiggly lines come out of it.

He then took off his black muscle shirt and there was a tattoo of a pair of torn black angel wings, going all the way down his back. He then stripped himself of all his other clothing and went into the underground water fall in the through the door in his room.

When he was done cleaning he put on a pair of black pants and fell on top of his bed. The wolf then went into the room with the hot waterfall and rinsed himself off. When he was finished he walked over to his own bed and laid in it. Soon they were both asleep.


	5. Chapter 4

IV

IV

Dreams, Upgrades, & A Party

The wind blew gently across Vylex's face, sweeping his short hair back and forth. He could feel his cheek against a cold hard surface. He slowly opened his eyelids letting his eyes take their time to adjust to the light. The sun was slapping his face as it came out from behind the horizon.

Vylex crumbled his fingers in, letting them feel what this surface was. The tips of his ringer ran across a rough surface with little bumps but at the same time the surface was loose. He put his hands flat against the surface and pushed himself up.

There were rustling noises that sounded like leaves, sliding out of the way as Vylex raised his head. He rubbed his eyes, destroying any hint of sleep.

At first all he could see was green plants. The leaves of these plants soon revealed that they were brown grains in them. Vylex stood up and looked around his surroundings. Tears overran his eyes when he saw that there was ten acres of these plants.

At first he thought he was dreaming, so he slapped himself and he said it hurt. That was enough for him to shed those tears in his eyes. He just couldn't believe it, he was in a tobacco field.

He ran through the field with his arms wide open, letting his hands slap the leaves as he passed by. He ran into the middle of the whole field and fell to his knees. He raised his hands in the air as if he was thanking some kind of God. Of course if you knew Vylex better you would know that he was imitating thanking a God for he really doesn't believe in any of that.

"My Promise Land," Vylex said, bowing to the ground and kissing the soil.

He sat up and got to his work. He took off all of the tobacco and made a little pile of it to his side. He set his left hand down on the ground and felt a little rectangular box. He snatched it from the ground and brought it before him.

"This isn't real," Vylex said coolly when he realized that the box was cigarette rollers.

He pulled one out and rolled a cigarette and then put it in his mouth. He then reached in his pocket and retrieved a lighter. He couldn't get any happier then this.

But when he lit his cigarette his happiness disappeared with the smoke. The fire, the smoke, the heat, the destruction, it all brought tears to Vylex's eyes as the field disappeared into the flames.

"God damn it!" cursed Vylex as his hand melted away.

Vylex opened his glaring eyes, to see Philippe standing over her. Vylex sat up and snapped his fingers. Philippe immediately ran over to his clothes on the floor and pulled out the pack of cigarettes and the light from his trench pocket. He then ran back over to Vylex, pulling out a cigarette with his one hand and putting it in Vylex's mouth. Vylex snatched the light from Philippe's hand and lit the cigarette himself. He then tossed the light to the side and laid back down.

"My apologizes Monsieur, were you having a good dream?" asked Philippe.

"No," Vylex replied reaching over to the coffee table next to his bed and grabbing the bottle of liquor. He took out his cigarette and replaced it with the top of the bottle and then chugging half of it down. He put the bottle back on the table and the cigarette back in his mouth. "What do you want?" Vylex asked.

"Your reports Monsieur are ready," Philippe answered, picking up the clothes on the floor.

"What are you doing?" Vylex asked.

"I don't think you'll be needing these anymore," the other answered.

"Yeah well what about the shit in them?" Vylex asked, standing up and walking over to the two revolvers. He picked both of them up and then set them on the table next to the liquor.

"I shall remove them," Philippe answered, emptying all of the pockets and unhooking the element bullets from the belt, while Vylex took them off the pants.

"Set those on the table and get out. I'll be out in a minute," Vylex ordered walking over to the new wardrobe.

He took off his pants and tossed them to Philippe. He then signaled for Philippe to leave the room. Philippe obeyed without question, exiting the perimeter and closing the door gently behind him.

"What a pain," Vylex complained, taking the cigarette out of his mouth to blow the smoke out and then putting it back in.

He first grabbed the new black pants. Unlike his old pair of pants these weren't as loose. From the waist to the knee caps they weren't too tight but they were fit. Starting at the shins they widened their loose. From the ankle down they as loose as his old pants. At the bottom of the pants the trim was blood red, along with the trim going down the side of the pants. On the back of both legs were Jolly Rogers, pure silver. On the outer sides of each leg were also these little hooks. Vylex realized that there were these little dark red belts hanging up that had hinges to match the hooks. These little belts carried a brand knew load of element ammo. He strapped them to his pants and then went to the next accessory.

The next item was a leather long sleeve black shirt with red and silver veins running through it and with a collar that went half way up his neck. It fit nice and felt extremely comfortable. The sleeves didn't run all the way down his arm they stopped half way down the forearm where they were really loose.

He then grabbed the black leather gloves that actually had their finger tips. Not for long though. Vylex found a knife and cut the finger tips off. He then put them on and was pleased that they ran up his forearm like the others. He pulled the loose sleeve over the gloves to conceal their ends and then looked at the markings. On the middle of the back hand on both gloves was a little silver V.

He next retrieved the belt, which also carried the element bullets but also had metal studs between the bullets. The buckle was twin crossed revolvers that looked like his own guns. On the back were two holsters strapped on, one red and one black.

By the time he got to the boots his cigarette was at the its end, so he took a quick second to throw it out and then went back to dressing. The boots went up a third of his shins. There were zippers on the side, making them easy to slip on and off, and there were straps rapped around them keeping them tight on. Going to the bottom of the boots, they had razors on their toe edges. The sole was two inches thick raising Vylex up.

Finally, the last item was the trench coat. The trench coat went down all the way to the floor. It was made out of leather and had a nice shine to it. The cuffs at the wrist were decorated with a button or two, while the center had three hooks going down the right side and three hinges on the left. On the back was a pair of small silver folded in dragon wings.

After he was done dressing he went into the bathroom and put on his black eyeliner and repainted his nails black but didn't even bother with the lipstick.

After he was all done he patted for his wolf to follow and walked out the door with a cigarette in his mouth.

"Looking not to bad," complimented Kent as Vylex walked into the main factory cavern.

"Let me guess, you made the designs right?" Vylex questioned blowing out the smoke through his nostrils.

"What you don't like my taste?" replied Kent, walking over to Vylex and taking the cigarette from his mouth.

"Never said I didn't," Vylex said, shaking his head and pulling out another cigarette.

"Hey man! What did you do to the gloves?" Kent protested noticing the gloves.

"Leather has no grip on my twins and it's hard pulling the trigger with them on," answered Vylex, spitting to the side and pulling out one of his revolvers, "Enough about the clothes. Where are those two who said they captured one of the Enemies?"

Vylex looked around, searching out the two he had an interview with, earlier before his nap. He was disappointed to see workers loafing around, drinking liquor and smoking the hand rolled cigarettes that Vylex made from last years harvest. He rolled his eyes and shook his head lifting his gun hand over his head and pulling the trigger.

Some dust fell upon Vylex's new coat, which he was quick to pat off. The whole place went silent after the echo of the gun fire had died. Some of them dropped their bottles of liquor while others let the cigarettes drop from their mouths. No one dared move a muscle or even make the slightest sound of a breath. They knew how well Vylex could shoot, they've seen it before. They waited quietly for him to speak.

"Philippe? Where are you?" Vylex asked in a pleasant voice.

Philippe came rushing up to Vylex. He bowed his head but didn't make a word, knowing that Vylex was in a bad mood.

"Philippe, I thought you said they were ready to report not drinking and smoking my smokes!" boomed Vylex.

"Will the two who have the Enemy step forward!" shouted Kent while Vylex was scolding Philippe, "Vylex!" he shouted.

"What?" Vylex asked stopping in the middle of his sentence.

"Save it for later," answered Kent waving for Philippe to leave.

"You know I hate it when people lie to me. We're doing way to many illegal things to be slacking."

"Vylex, it's just a report," pointed out Kent.

"Yes it is but with the stuff we're doing a report means a lot. It let's us know if we're safe or not," Vylex replied just when the two workers came up to them.

"Monsieur!" the both saluted.

"Do I look like a General? No saluting," he ordered and they went to their relaxed standing position, "Now, bring forth the Enemy."

"Why Monsieur," the first asked.

Vylex stored the revolver away and said, "target practice."

The two ran off at the final two words. Vylex walked over to where the new shells were. Each one being a different color and yet they were mixed with all kinds of different element pellets.

Vylex retrieved the shotgun that was laying on the stone table and loaded one of the rounds into the cartridge. He handed it to Kent and then pulled out both of his revolvers. They walked over into the next cave, which was completely empty except for all of the sculptors that were target practice.

Vylex unloaded all of his element bullets and set them on the stone table. He then retrieved the metal bullets on the same table and loaded them into his gun. Right when he snapped them shut, he lifted both arms and fired four shots with each gun, while his head was still down. He then raised his head and fired four more shots with each gun.

"Not bad," said Kent cocking his shotgun.

Vylex finished off the rest of his rounds and then he set his guns on the table. He walked over to the sculptor and examined it. There was a large hole in the sculptor's forehead.

"How did you do?" shouted Kent from behind.

"Horrible!" Vylex cried back hitting the sculptor with his palm, knocking it over and breaking it, "I hit the same spot every time."

Vylex could hear Kent chuckling to himself from a distance to this comment. Vylex always said that it was a bad thing to shoot in the same spot. Kent and everyone else couldn't help but laugh at this.

Vylex walked back to his guns and reloaded them with the element bullets just as the two men came out with the Enemy. Vylex shook his head when he saw them come out alone trying to keep the creature under control. He lifted his right revolver and shot the creature in the leg to settle it down. Unfortunately that failed. The Enemy responded by hitting both men in the head, knocking them to the ground.

"What is this place? You! You're the one responsible for this. You shall be punished for this crime!" the Enemy shouted.

"Please," Vylex responded, firing another shot into the Enemy's other leg. The Enemy dropped to its knees immediately, "Like you can do anything about it."

The Enemy gather the last of its strength and jumped to its feet and started to charge at Vylex, but was thrown back by a large impact that put a hole in its metal armor. Kent blew the flames and sparks away from his shotgun and then rested it on his shoulder.

"I like it," he said smiling.

Vylex nodded and then signaled for the armor to be removed. He walked back to Kent and examined the shotgun. He slightly nodded satisfied with the piece of art. After the slight approval, Vylex motioned his wolf to follow him back to the other cave.

Vylex walked up to the gun and bullet smith, and put his hand on the man's shoulder. The smith jumped when he felt the hand but settled down when he saw it was Vylex. Of course, he wasn't able to slow his heart rate down that much.

"What can I do for you Vylex?" the smith asked.

The smith was one of the few people that Vylex allowed him to call Vylex by his name. It was more of that he tolerated it because the smith was the only reason why Vylex was still alive.

"I have a design for a new kind of weapon," Vylex started off.

"But Vylex, we don't have any metal material right now for a new gun," the smith interrupted.

"Never mind a new gun. I'm talking about caps," Vylex snapped back.

"Sorry Vylex. I didn't mean to upset you."

"Quite alright," Vylex said.

"Now, what do you mean by caps?" the smith questioned with a confused look on his face for he never heard the term before.

Vylex patted for the wolf to come up next to him and so the wolf did. He then grabbed the wolf by the muzzle and propped open the wolf's mouth.

"I want to construct caps that will fit this here wolf's teeth permanently and I want the caps to be made out of the element weapons. Can you do that?"

"It will take me about a day but I believe I can," was the reply.

"That's what I want to hear," said Vylex throwing out his cigarette that was dead for quite some time.

"Monsieur Vylex!" shouted a worker who snuck up behind Vylex.

Vylex jumped at this and drew out his revolver; pointing it at the worker. When he realized there was no need for the weapon he stored it back in his holster and leaned up against a rock.

"Yes what is it?" Vylex moaned.

"My report, Monsieur," answered the worker.

"Well get on with it. Is it important what so ever?"

"Yes, I believe it is. It's your father, the Count. He request to see you in Tours!" the worker reported.

"When?" Vylex asked taking out another cigarette and lighting it.

"In four days.," was the reply.

Vylex dashed to his room and slammed the door. He removed all of his clothing and changed into a nobles tunic with a styled coat other that and his noble pants and shoes. He went into the bathroom and removed all of his nail polish and eyeliner and then darted out of the room.

"Vylex, where are you going?" Kent questioned, as Vylex shot by.

"Tours. I'll be back before weeks end. Tell the captain of the ship harbored on the outskirts of this island to get ready to set sail!" Vylex ordered sprinting up the stairs to the secret entrance. The wolf started to follow but was stopped when Vylex barked, "STAY!"

He then ran up the stair and into the broken shaft. He quickly closed the passage and bolted out of the ruins. There to the side of the shack was a black settled horse, waiting for Vylex. Vylex jumped on the creatures back and rode off through the palm trees.

He made it to the dock by sundown and saw that the ship was already starting to leave. _Good, _ he thought to himself, _at least some of the workers are efficient in what they do. _He rode into the water and put his feet on the horses back. He then jumped off the horse onto the net that laid on the side of the ship and climbed up.

By the fourth day the ship had arrived in Tours. Vylex looked into the city and could see the Enemy marching back and forth through the streets. He stomach clenched and his heart skipped a few beats. He didn't feel safe near the creatures without his weapons. What if one of them recognized him? He broke out into a roar of laughter at the thought of this. That was preposterous, every Enemy he had encountered was dead. His laughing ceased when he noticed the crew staring at him in an odd way.

When the ship reached the harbor, Vylex jumped off the ship and continued his way through the city alone. A carriage stopped in front of him as he passed by the inn.

"Master Vylex?" the man in the carriage asked.

"Yes," replied Vylex.

"Please step inside Monsieur," the man ordered.

Vylex obeyed and the carriage took off out of the city. Vylex didn't even bother looking at the man who sat on the other side of him. This bothered the man and he decided to speak.

"I was sent…"

"By the Count, to pick me up. I know," Vylex interrupted straightening his decorative over coat and then asked, "what is the reasoning for such a short notice summoning?"

"A party, which one of the Generals is supposed to be present. The Count, your father, only thought of it to be proper for you to be present," the servant replied, not noticing Vylex shiver at this.

Vylex just smiled at the man and nodded his head and the turned his head to the closed window. During the ride he tapped his index and middle finger on his chin, while tapping the surface with his left foot that was crossed over his right leg. He began to move uneasily and started fidgeting about.

"Something wrong Monsieur?" asked the servant, noticing Vylex.

"Hmm? Oh no, nothing is wrong," Vylex lied, trying to settle himself down.

He was jittery until they reached his father manor. When the carriage stopped in front of the main gate, the servant got out and bowed his heading signaling for Vylex to leave as well. Vylex forced himself to stop fidgeting and left the perimeter.

Vylex didn't wait for the servant to direct him or fair him well. He immediately dashed over to the gates and signaled for the men to open it. When they finished his order he walked into his father's residence.

After making his way down the long road, through the garden, and pass the guards hall he approached the main door, where a servant stood waiting for him.

"Monsieur Vylex?" the servant presumed but asked it as a question just to be safe.

"Yes, I've returned from my trip," Vylex answered slightly bowing, which made the servant blush.

"Please follow me Monsieur," the servant said walking through the ten fifteen foot doors.

Vylex followed the servant, trembling with every step he took. When he passed through the doors though he quit trembling for he didn't want anyone to notice. And there were a large number of people that would notice.

Inside the manor was a great hall filled with nobles and a couple of Enemies. At the end of the hall was a stair case that went up to the upper level where the balcony that viewed that hall was. On top of that balcony was Count Theral.

Vylex pushed his way through the crowd of nobles that were chatting about politics and money. Vylex had no interest in those two subjects, he never had. They were boring topics to him and were simply pointless to talk about.

"Vylex my boy, how are you?" a man asked from a distance.

Vylex turned around to see who addressed him and was pleased to see his foster uncle.

"Well, Uncle Cayne. Thank you for asking," Vylex answered, his neck twitching a bit.

Cayne was the only member of Vylex's foster family that he respected. In fact Cayne was the one who helped Vylex build his underground workshop. He also supplied him with the ship and the crew member that were most loyal. In fact almost all of Vylex's workers were loyal to his uncle for they feared his power.

When Cayne first heard about the discovery of the ship Vylex stole, he was most upset with the workers. Of course these workers belonged to Vylex's father and were loyal to him and the Enemy. So Cayne gave Vylex his own workers and helped him rebuild the place.

"Something wrong Vylex?" his Uncle asked, noticing the twitch.

"I need a smoke," Vylex said under his breath so that nobody but his Uncle would hear.

Cayne laughed when he heard this and shook his head. He stood by Vylex's side and patted him on the back.

"I have a pipe with me. It's not the same as your cigarettes but it will help a little. We'll go out side and smoke once you've spoke with your father," Cayne whispered in Vylex's ear.

"I've heard that one of the Generals is present," noted Vylex.

"Yes the General is here. But don't fear nephew, he wasn't the one involved in the attack. I think you've met him before actually," his Uncle replied.

"That makes me feel so much better," Vylex said sarcastically.

Cayne smiled and then walked through the crowd with Vylex at his side. They made their way through the crowd and up the stairs to where the Count was waiting.

"Well, well, well, look who decided to show up," said Count Theral.

"Father," Vylex said bowing his head in respect.

Count Theral was a well built man who was just a little taller then Vylex. His dark brown hair was long and slicked back. His facial skin was tan from the sun. The structure of his face was rough with a thin mustache and side burns running down his face. His nose was short and a little crooked.

He wore a white nobles tunic with a red jacket, decorated with buttons and gold trims, was over that. He wore his finest black nobles pants and black shoes. His hands were concealed by black white gloves that only went up to his wrist. There was a rapier hanging from his right hip that was strapped to his belt.

"How was your trip Vylex?" the Count asked sitting at his table. He waved his hand signaling for Vylex's Uncle to leave. "Please, sit," the Count instructed.

Vylex obeyed and sat directly across from his father in the cherry oak chair. The oval table in front of them was made of marble and had a white cloth protecting the top of it. On top of that cloth was to wine glasses, one in front of both men. In the middle of the table was a bottle clay bottle of red wine.

The Count leaned forward and grabbed the wine. He poured his own glass and then stood up and walked over to Vylex to pour his. Vylex bowed his head in gratitude and took a sip out of the glass. The Count sat back in his seat and gave the wine to a passing by servant.

"Vylex?" said the count.

"Hmm," Vylex asked looking around for the General.

"What is with your hair?" asked the Count taking a sip out of his glass.

Vylex froze when he heard the question. For two reasons really, one being he forgot about the hair dye and two because he saw the General walking towards them.

"Damn it Vylex! You just always have to break the rules don't you!" scolded the Count, right when the General was next to them.

"Now, now, my dear Count. There is no need to get upset at the poor boy. I don't see it in any rules that forbid dying ones hair. In fact I find it rather neat," said the General taking a seat between the two.

"General," the Count said bowing his head.

Vylex bowed his head as well but said nothing. He was still frozen solid. Little bumps ran the terrain on his skin while what little hair was on his arms shot straight up. A cold shiver slid down his spinal cord. His hair began to stiffen.

"Please young Vylex, there is no need to get so nervous. I actually rather enjoyed your company from our last meet," the metal head turned to Vylex who was trying to relax, "so you can calm down now. You've done nothing wrong."

The General and the two men followed in respect. The General walked away with the two of them by his side.

"Count, I have a proposition to ask of you?" the General spoke.

"Yes, anything General," replied the Count.

"We're having a little trouble with the newest rebellion that is going on. It seems that they are more persistent than the rebellion that Hart lead," the General spoke.

When Vylex heard this name his thoughts rushed. _Who? _Was the first thought that came to his mind. He had never heard the name before and it sounded a little dull. He was spaced out until he heard the words _destroy._

"We would like you to take your army and destroy them in Italy. We're having the King of Brittan finish off the last of them there… if there are any left. There are rumors saying that there is a ghost haunting a forest there. They say it's the spirit of Hart. But that does not concern you. We have a new trouble maker. A woman who is the leader of all the rebels. She was supposedly killed in the forest but there is a great chance that the information is inaccurate. If she were to survive she would most certainly return to Rome, Italy."

"Why don't you have your own men do it?" asked Vylex suddenly.

The Enemy laughed at this comment.

"Nothing escapes you does it young Vylex. Well let's just say they wouldn't expect it if their own race destroyed them. Plus it is a test of your father's loyalty," answered the General.

"Yes but surely you would have him attack a resistance in Gaul and you yourself would attack the head base of the rebels," shot back Vylex.

"Vylex! That is enough!" cried the Count.

"No, that's quite alright Count. The boy is interested in warfare. Well young Vylex, if the rumors are true about the ghost of Hart I would like to personally be there myself along with thirty of my soldiers."

"Why would you do that for just one man?" asked the Count.

"Because my dear Count, I want to make sure that when we kill this ghost, we kill it for sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I must make my leave. Do I have your support Count?" asked the General.

"Now and forever General," answered the Count.

"Vylex it has been a pleasure as always. I hope you will join the battle against the rebels," commented the General.

"I would but I'm off on business," answered Vylex walking with General down the stairs.

"I see. Well until we meet again," said the General shaking Vylex's hand.

"Until we meet again," said Vylex swallowing.

The General disappeared into the crowd and Vylex went back up the stairs.

"Father, a pleasure as always," Vylex said bowing his head.

"Why don't you take time off from your trips and stay here at home for a month Vylex?" the Count suggested.

"I'll pass," Vylex said coldly and he walked off past the next two doors and into a hallway.

He walked down the hallway, meeting his Uncle halfway.

"Well how did it go?" Cayne asked.

"Fine. I'll have to pass on the smoke. I need to return and prepare to leave again," Vylex answered walking down the hall with his Uncle.

"Where to?" Cayne asked.

"Away from this coming war," answered Vylex.

They walked through the next doors and down the spiral stairs. They then exited the perimeter and walked around the manor until Vylex was back in front of the house. They both walked down the long stretch road until they reached the gates.

"Allow me to give you a ride to the harbor?" Cayne offered.

"Thank you Uncle," Vylex answered walking pass the gate and entering Cayne's carriage.


	6. Chapter 5

V

V

The Truth

_One Hundred Years Ago…_

At about noon the rebels stopped in an opening of the forest. Their feet were tired, their bellies groaned, and their throats were dry. Some of the men were irritated with this campaign. Of course they kept their mouths shut for it was indeed very important that they were successful. If they should fail they would soon meet their doom.

The forest was dry but its pines let out an interesting aroma that was like rain. But the aroma wasn't enough for the men to stay in the place for long. All throughout the trees were dark clouds what seemed to be mist but every now and then it would shift. Some men were saying that the forest was haunted and that there were ghost among them. And most of the men were beginning to believe them.

It made a weird echo of a screeching noise like a griffin. Of course the men weren't so enhance into this fear that they believed in griffins. But then again who knows what was possible in this world now. After the Enemy came anything seemed possible.

The men laid their element weapons on the ground and brought out the cooking gear. Two of the soldiers took their wind and water javelins and said they were going to go hunt for some food. The other men just nodded and went back to talking amongst themselves. When the two men went back into the forest a loud _hoot _ran through the air. The men in the camp went silent and watched the other two enter the ghost of the forest.

"Blasted fools!" one swore. "They'll never make it out of their alive," he finished spitting on the ground.

"I call them rather brave," said the only woman amongst the men.

"Hey what is the point of this campaign?" one of the men randomly asked.

"To find where Hart went of course!" another cried out with anger.

"Yeah I know that but don't ya think he will return on his own," the other shot back.

"Listen, we just lost a battle against the Enemy and Hart is missing. We can't survive another attack without him," one commented.

"You know that they're called the Decro," the woman pointed out.

"I don't care what they're called as long as they're dead that's all that matters to me," the other shot back.

Soon the men got into a huge argument and started swearing and threatening one another. The woman, who everyone would think be trying to settle them down, was instead swearing and threatening along with them.

Two men picked up their weapons and started fighting each other. Of course they were knocked down by the others right away and they went right back to yelling at each other.

What they were yelling about was hard to say. Some were arguing about the mission to find Hart while others were arguing about being here and then there was those who were blaming each other for loosing the battle.

Soon the whole place was wrecked and fist were flying and men were on the ground with broken noses and bloodied mouths. The woman was the one hitting most of the guys down until she herself was knocked down. Eventually they were wrestling on the floor.

"Gentlemen," said a voice but the party paid no heed to it. They were too busy arguing and killing each other.

"Gentlemen!" said the voice again but this time much louder; catching everyone's attention.

The men looked up and saw Hart standing there looking at them pitifully. They stopped wrestling and swearing and stood up for respects.

"What are you doing?" Hart asked with a confused look on his face. Before anyone one spoke he continued, "You know what, don't answer that. It doesn't matter, just stop doing it."

"Yes sir," they all said.

"But I do want to know why we are all out in this part of the forest?" Hart asked looking around.

"We were looking for you sir," one of the men answered.

"Well it's a nice place for a retreat… just next time worry more about covering up your tracks then looking for me. I had a hard time removing them myself when I found it," Hart said walking around and picking up the supplies. The others followed in aiding Hart for they knew that it was their doing. Hart stopped for second to glance at his men. "We're missing two."

"They went into the forest to hunt for food," one of the men answered.

"We tried warning them but they wouldn't listen," another said.

"Warning them of what?" Hart asked going back to his task.

"The forest, it's… well… haunted," the soldier said pointing into the forest.

"What? The mist? There's nothing haunted about the mist," Hart commented.

The men were dumb struck. What they thought was dark clouds that were haunted with ghost, was in fact just mist. But then a new fear hit them. Why was mist so low in this forest? They dared not ask but trusted their leader to save them.

"Sir, I suggest we don't stay here long. If the Enemy… I mean Decro, find us we won't be able to hold them off and we'll all die," one of the men who approached him suggested.

"Even if we were to be fully strengthen we would all die. The one in black armor is fast and powerful. I had the hardest time defending myself from him," Hart mentioned.

"You sir?" the soldier was a bit surprised.

"Yes Jack, me. It was the fight with it when I lost Xaven, my blade. I picked up an element weapon and fought it off with that but it would not penetrate it. There was something about that ones armor. I wonder if that Decro could be what they call a General."

"Did you have any luck finding Xaven?" Jack asked.

"No. I tried going back to find it but I had no luck for the Decro were still there. I don't think I will see it again for if they find it then it will be destroyed," answered Hart.

"What are your orders, sir?" another soldier asked from a distance.

"We'll camp here for the night and break for the coast at first light. We'll then flee back to Germany were we will replenish our forces," Hart instructed loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Where are those two men?" the woman asked.

"I don't know. Maybe they got lost," Jack answered.

"Jack," Hart said.

"Yes sir," Jack replied.

"I want you and three others to go scout behind us to see if the Enemy is close by," Hart instructed.

"Yes sir," was the reply.

"You three over there," Jack said pointing to the three men talking amongst themselves. "Come with me."  
The four of them left back into the woods and out of the men's sight. Hart looked into the woods with the mist. Suddenly something moved in it. Then again and again. Hart wasn't sure what it was but he knew that it wasn't a ghost. He could see it had something to do with mist.

"You there," he called out to a man sleeping next to his flame saber, "Lend me your sword."

The man obliged and tossed Hart the saber. Hart caught it and then walked into the woods.

"Hart?" the woman called out but he paid no head.

"Where is he going?" the men asked each other.

Hart took each step slowly through the woods, trying not to disturb its peace. There were loud screeching noises going through Hart's head. Each step made the forest seem darker and darker. Soon it seemed that it was night time out and Hart could barely see where he was going.

But soon it began to light back up. He looked around and noticed that a few of the trees had a hazy blue glow to them. The mist, if he could really call it that, was densing it up making the sight in front of him hazy. A few times he almost tripped over a sticking out root and a lot of the time he smacked his head on a branch.

"What is this place?" he asked himself.

He kept walking through it being allured by the trees. But the enchantment of the trees disappeared when he heard the screeching noise again. But that wasn't all he heard, he could hear a humming noise as well.

The trees suddenly went back to normal when Hart heard a _hoot _from an owl. He looked to his side and saw an object made of water coming straight towards his head. Heart raised his flame saber up and blocked the attack but the attack had caught him by surprise and through him off balance. He took a step back and tripped on a tree root.

Hart looked over and saw two men laying next to each other with blood all over their face and two javelins made of water and wind laying next to them. He looked back up and saw the weapon heading straight for his head. He rolled to the side and swept his own weapon across the ground, cutting through the Decro's legs.

Hart jumped to his feet and ran without even finishing off the Decro. He sprinted through the forest which was getting lighter and lighter. He ducked and jumped avoiding branches and roots but was still nicked by pines and twigs. Finally he made his way out of the forest and back into the camp.

"We're under attack!" he cried out but it was too late.

He could hardly see anything thing for there was smoke everywhere. But he could hear the screams of his men as they tried to defend themselves against the Decro. _How did they find us so soon? _Hart asked himself.

To his right was a Decro with a flame spear who was approaching Hart with a steady paste. Heart lifted his sword over his head putting himself in a high guard stance.

The Decro was the first to attack by lunging the spear at Hart's stomach. Hart swung his sword down knocking the attack to the side and throwing his enemy off balance. Hart then swung the sword again and slashed the Decro across the chest. The attack didn't have that much of an effect on the Decro, not even denting the armor. The Decro swung the butt of his spear in a full circle, smacking it right into Hart's temple.

Hart's vision went black as he fell to the ground. The Decro, satisfied with knocking down the legendary warrior, left him there. The Decro turned around and started to walk away but stopped when it felt the tip of a sword pierce its back. The Decro made a loud hum and then it fell to the ground.

Hart stood there, blood running down his cheek, with the flame saber in the Decro's back. He pulled the blade out and stumbled backwards. His vision was hardly anything but a blur. He couldn't see anything in front of him, not even the Decro who was coming at him with two flame falchions.

"In the end your nothing but a human," said the Decro, raising his two blades.

By then Hart's vision was just clear enough to see the Decro with the flame swords. _Two? There are never two leaders in a group? _He said to himself. But then he realized that the Decro had black armor on, just like the one who he had fought the previous day.

"So, your what they call a General," Hart said, trying to raise his sword up.

"I am," the General replied swinging his swords down at Hart's neck.

Unfortunately for the General, Hart passed out right when it started the attack. Hart fell over just as the blades where two inches from his neck.

Hart woke up to the scream of a woman. He looked up and saw the General's blade in the woman's heart. An anger rushed over Hart like he never felt before. He jumped to his feet and grabbed his weapon. He rushed over to the General and swung the blade with all of his might. The flame saber clashed into the black armor with enough force to knock the General to the ground but at the same time breaking the weapon.

Hart turned his attention to the woman as she fell to the ground. Tears began building up in his eyes. He took one last look at her and then he ran.

He dashed for the trees where the mist was flowing through. He was sprinting as fast as he could, more then his legs would allow him. The pain in his legs swelled but he did not stop. He just kept running as far away as possible.

Thoughts were rushing through his head, thoughts of failure. Thoughts of letting his comrades die. Thoughts of fear and cowardice. He was running when he should of stayed and fought to the end. He shouldn't of been afraid of dying next to his men. All the things he should have done, he didn't.

These thoughts of betrayal and fear led him running deep into the woods without him realizing where he was running. It seemed like it would never end, this forest. Where was it leading him? Where was it taking him? These questions came and went as he ran swiftly through the trees.

Soon the forest began to change and he could see the mist thicken and the trees turned a hazy blue. The cold air was letting up and was becoming quite warm. The aroma of the tree sap had faded. His sight became clearer now that the forest was lit up, well at least it wasn't dark. Even though the forest had brightened, the mist grew thicker and made it even harder to see.

Though sight became an issue the running hadn't. The soil began to soften up and cushioned each of Hart's steps as he sprinted. The pine needles on the ground crumbled as Vylex's boot trampled over them. The pine cones shattered into little pieces. But the forest made the path easy for Hart to run through.

Hart still had no idea where he was going, but it didn't matter. Just as long he was far away nothing mattered. He didn't want to think about what just happened, who he just lost. It seemed like a bad nightmare that he wanted to end.

The running never seemed to end, nor did the forest. It seemed like the forest was having him run in circles. It seemed preposterous of course but then again anything could happen. Hart lost all thought of failure and his attention grew upon the mist. What was it about this mist? It seemed so… unique. The mist didn't seem like mist at all. It seemed like something different, some type of illusion.

Soon, though, his running had to slow down to a jog. His lungs, which were now punctuating his ribs, refused to work any longer. His head became light and his breaths were harsh. He began to cough with each breath. But he would not stop, he kept going even though he thought his lungs would burst inside him.

Suddenly Hart's foot caught on a stump and sent him flying forward, but the landing seemed to take longer then it should have. He soon realized that he had tumbled off a cliff and was falling through the air. Eventually his landing came but it wasn't hard and solid like he thought it would be. True it hurt quite a bit but he didn't stop falling.

Soon Hart's lungs were filled with water, or so he thought. When he opened his eyes and let the need of oxygen take a hold of him, he realized that he was still breathing air. How was this possible? But soon the question left his thoughts when he saw what was under this lake.

Lime green water crystals floated around Hart. Hart, allured by them, tried snatching one but the crystal floated away out of his grasp. He tried catching another one and another one but they all fled. Soon he began swimming after them, trying to catch one of these crystals.

"Stay still!" Hart commanded, though you could hardly make it out.

Hart swung the saber at one and cut the crystal in half. But soon the crystal formed itself back together but it didn't move. Not even when Hart approached, the crystal just stayed still. When Hart's face got close to the crystal it began to glow. This glow colored the water around Hart and faded the other crystals.

Something then happened to Hart, something that he wouldn't of expected. Hart let his sword drop to the bottom as he clenched his hand around his throat. He wasn't breathing, not inhaling water just not breathing. He couldn't, his lungs didn't function like they should have. He could feel his heart stop, along with every organ in his body. Soon Hart floated in the water, motionless.

The mist that was above the water sank under and wrapped around Hart, concealing him in its blanket. It then brought Hart above the lake and there he floated.

The memory flashed before the man's very eyes, like it just happened. He tried shaking the image out but he could still hear the scream of the woman. He shook his head and walked back into the forest, which for some reason was more familiar to him then anywhere he had been. He had ran through it only once before but it seemed like he has lived here forever.

When the young man reached the lake, he stuck his sword into the ground and sat in front of it. The memory of the fight flashed before his eyes again. He closed his eyes and shook his head.

"I'm no longer that person. So just give it up," he said to the emptiness of the lake.

"You can not deny you destiny Hart," a voice replied.

Hart didn't know where it came from but he knew it. He didn't know from where but he felt like he knew it.

"You know my past just as well as I do. I failed them, I let them down. I let… I let her die," the man said to the lake.

"That's because you weren't ready. And you won't be until you let go of your past. You must move on and train yourself," the voice answered back.

"But how?" the man asked, "how can I defeat a General."

"You can't right now. Not until you find the person who has Xaven," the voice answered.

"Yes I know. I don't know how I know this but I feel like I have talked to you before mist."

"And talk together again we shall Hart but first you need to replenish your strength. You have been asleep for a hundred years. You are not as strong as you used to be," said the mist.

"How am I to replenish that?" the young man asked shaking his head.

"Go under the lake. The crystals will heal you," the mist replied, "don't you remember?"

Suddenly the young man remembered the maroon crystals. But how? He had never been in contact with them before. But he laid his questions to rest and jumped into the lake.


	7. Chapter 6

VI

VI

Voyage Home

Lady Darkness ran over to the plank of wood and began to dig it out. Her fingers scratched against the sand coating the tips of her fingers with the sands color. The sand was rough and dry but that was really a good thing. She scooped hand full of sand out with ease, until it moistened up.

When she reached the moist sand/dirt her finger nails where getting dirty along with her hands. It was harder to scoop out the sand the further she went down.

Soon she was down to her waist digging out the sand. This boat was long, really long. It seemed like it would take forever to dig it out. And she was right.

Three hours later and she had dug out a third of the boat. By then she had discovered the mast that was broken off, lying next to the boat. There was some rope deeper under that, along with a sail.

She dug for another hour and finally had the boat totally uncovered. It took her another twenty minutes to pull it out. When she did she was disappointed. The boat had holes in it around its sides and the mast seemed almost irreplaceable.

All of her hope was now lost. She didn't have a decent way out of this place. Her desire for food and water began to grow immensely. With all these things bearing down on her, she lost her will and just fell over in the sand hole. Her fingers dug into the sand as she closed her eyes. She was depressed, she had lost her men and now she too would probably die.

When she opened her eyes she saw a seagull hopping along the side of her arm. In its beak was a little crab that had a lot of life left in it. The crab squirmed and clawed at the seagull, which made the seagull drop the crab a couple of times. But the crab wouldn't stop fighting to save its life. Even when the bird dropped it on the ground and flipped it on its back to start pecking at it, the crab continued to claw on.

Lady Darkness watched the crab and the seagull fight each other. Something about this crab gave her an inspiration and in a way reminded her of her own life. Here was a little crab fighting with all of its might to stay alive, whatever it took. Even though the seagull was the greater predator and was more capable of injuring the crab, the crab still fought on.

Lady Darkness raised her hand and swatted the seagull. The seagull angered by this gawked at her and snapped at her with its beak. She retrieved her hand back just in time to avoid the nip and then counteracted with another might smack. The crab by then had flipped back on its feet and joined in the fight by snapping it pincers at the seagull's wings. The seagull gawked at both of them and kept trying to fight them both off, but soon grew tired and found this to be to much effort for dinner and it decided to fly off.

She smiled at this and looked at the crab. The crab looked back at her and snapped its pincers in a friendly way as in saying thanks. She nodded her head and stood up.

"Sometimes we need someone to help us if we are to survive," she said.

She then realized that the crab had helped her as well in staying alive. Even though life seems at an end she mustn't give up and she must fight on to stay alive.

"Thank you," she said and then she jumped out of the hole and walked back into the forest.

She slowly walked through the forest, focusing all of her attention on the ground. Soon she walked off the trail and into the trees themselves. She was determined to find a damp spot in the soil. If she found that it meant that water was near by and she could solve one of her problems.

She walked over a pile of leaves and was surprised at how soft they nestled her foot step. She stopped and bent over to brush the leaves away.

At last! Some soft soil!

She got on her hands and knees and began to dig. Only a few feet down and some water began to pop out. She dug a little deeper and the water came up enough for her to drink. She drank as much as she could, even though the water was horribly disgusting. When her thirst was quenched she stood up and searched for some food.

It didn't take long, in just a few feet was a bush covered with berries. She picked as many as she could and shoved them into her mouth. When her stomach was full she left for the beach where she would find a way to make use of the wrecked boat.

When she reached the beach, the sky was darkened by dark clouds. By the looks of it she was probably going to get wet here soon. To make things easier for her, she grabbed her scythe and slid it under her belt and then she pulled the boat out of the hole and into the woods. There, she would find a way to fix the holes and make use of the mass and torn up sail.

By the time she got the boat into the woods, the rain was pouring down. She kept pulling the boat until she got under a cluster of trees, where the branches were so close together that the leaves and pines made a little roof.

There she sat and tried to think of a way to fix her ride. She laid down and curled her fingers in and then flexed them back out repeatedly. Her finger tips rubbed against something soft and fuzzy. It felt good but odd at the same time. She looked over to see what it was and discovered her hand was on some moss.

_Of course!_ She thought to herself.

She pulled clunks of moss out of the ground and began packing it into the holes in the boat. When she finished three holes she was out of moss. She got up and ran out into the rain in search for more. It was easy enough to find for it seemed to be everywhere. She grabbed as much as she could hold and then ran back to her boat.

In about ten minutes she had finished covering all of the holes. But the problem was keeping the moss in. She looked over at the torn sails and thought that she could put those over the moss but she didn't know how to get it to stick. Eventually Lady Darkness decided that the moss alone would have to do for there was no way to get the sails to stick. Instead she would use them as a blanket.

The next thing she thought of was using the broken off piece of the mass as an oar. She grabbed the big pole and slid out her scythe from beneath her belt. She began carving it with the curved blade. With each slice a large slab of wood came off, making the pole lighter and quicker into its new form.

A few hours later she was done. The rain had stopped and the sun went down. She didn't dare stay on this island a second longer for fear that the Enemy might discover her. She had to leave tonight, right now.

She put her scythe back under her belt and hauled the boat out. A couple of times some moss fell out and she had to pack it back in. But she was determined to get back to Rome. She had to!

At last she got the boat down to the beach and into the water. She took out her scythe and set in the boat. Lady Darkness took out the oar and shoved the boat as far out that she could walk and then jumped in the boat and let the waves do the rest.

The sea was calm, a good sign that the voyage home would be a pleasant one. But her happy thoughts of a nice ride died when she forgot something most vital. It would take her a week or two to get to Rome and she didn't bring any food or water. She was ready to paddle back but realized that she was too far out from shore. There was also the fact of running into the Enemy if she went back. She could only pray for a miracle that a passing boat would come and rescue her. Until then, she was in the seas hands.

_It was dark out, and the air carried a fowl scent. The scent of blood. The scent of death. Something about the night didn't seem right._

_Lady Darkness sat up against the tree trying to fall asleep but couldn't. Something about this scent bothered her. It was fowl and it stuck in her nose. It took over her mind and filled her thoughts about it. She wished it would go away but it wouldn't._

_She looked up and saw William standing there with blood on his face and a sword through his stomach. He reached out his hand that was covered in blood. His hand got closer and closer to her face and the scent became stronger and stronger. Until at last it touched…_

Lady Darkness woke up with horrible shiver. Her legs were numb and her heart pounded. She looked down and saw that her legs were covered in water. At first she didn't understand, she thought she was still dreaming.

"Oh no!" she cried when she realized that some of the moss must have fallen out.

The water level began to rise and the boat slowly sank. But it wasn't just because of the hole in the boat. The waves roared like lions and slapped Lady Darkness across her face. A storm had approached while she slept and she woke up in the worst of it. The waves crashed down on her hard. She spat out water that shot down her throat.

Again a wave crashed down on her and another one following right after it. It didn't seem to stop, wave after wave crashed down on her; knocking some of the moss out. And then an immense shadow cast over her. She looked up and saw an enormous wave ready to fall on her. There was nothing she could do, once this wave struck it would be over.

The wave came down full speed, smashing into her boat. That was the end of it, the moss popped out, the wood broke in half. Her ship was broken and she was cast into the sea. But as she was engulfed into the water, her fingers managed to grasp her scythe and she pulled in with her.

"Eh Captain! I think I see somethin in the water!" a sailor shouted.

"What is it!" the captain hollered back.

"I don't know!" was the first's reply.

The whole crew ran over and looked into the water. The captain however remained on the wheel.

"Man over board!" one of the sailors cried.

In the water was a woman resting on a plank of wood with a purple scythe in her hand.

Everything seemed so dark as Lady Darkness opened her eyes. She thought see was dead at first but then she heard someone scream. She thought it was William and that this was another dream. But when her eyes focused she realized that it wasn't William and it wasn't a dream.

She gazed up and saw an enormous jet black ship sail by her. She looked up and saw a man jump off the ship and swam after her. She blew a sigh and knew that she was saved. She then fell back asleep and fell off the plank.

When she awoke, she knew at once that she wasn't in the water anymore. The surface which she rested on was hard. She looked up and saw ten men standing over her. She guessed that they were sailors but then guessed otherwise when she saw the captain and the tattoo on his neck. There was a large P on his neck and that could only mean one thing, pirates.

She tried sitting up but one of the crewmen put his foot on her and pinned her back down. She tried to break free but he just pushed harder and the others laughed.

"Who are ya lass?" the captain asked but she did not answer.

"Maybe if we started taking her clothes off she would begin to talk," one of the pirates suggested.

"And at that point we would stop?" another asked questioning this idea.

"No we would continue to take them off. She is might cute and what good is a cute lady if she has any clothes on?" the other replied.

"But what if she doesn't talk after we take her clothes off?" Another asked.

"Then ya take her down below, have some fun with her, and then slit her throat," answered the captain annoyed with his crew.

"Ah but why slit her throat Captain? Why not throw her in the cellar and keep her around in case any of us get bored?" the pirate next to the Captain asked.

"Because she be carrying this," the Captain answered holding Lady Darkness's scythe up. The whole crew gasped at the sight of the scythe. "She's a spy for the Enemy!" he shouted.

"I am not!" Lady Darkness cried.

"Ah! She spoke!" one of them cried.

"We still get to take her clothes off right?" another asked.

The whole crew shouted "aye" and bent down to grab her. But Lady Darkness wasn't about to allow these scoundrels to violate her. She slammed her fist into the jewels of the pirate pinning her down. He cried out and pain and took his foot off of her and fell to the ground. She then kicked two pirates in the face reaching down for her. They both fell on their backs with their hands over their broken noses. The other crew saw this rebellion and got angry and drew their swords.

Lady Darkness jumped up and decked one pirate in the nose and kneed another one in the stomach. She then ducked avoiding the pirate's falchion and then countered by upper cutting him in the jaw. She then was knocked down by two pirates who jumped on her back. One of them managed to tear a piece of her shirt off her back while the other grabbed by the hair and slammed her head into the deck.

Unfortunately for them it didn't knock her out. Instead it covered her in rage and she elbowed the one holding her hair in the ribs and donkey kicked the other in the sternum. She then jumped up and retrieved one of the pirate's falchion type sword.

She swung the blade slicing a gash into one's arm. He lunged his sword at her but she blocked the attack and swung again slicing his throat. He fell to the ground and blood gushed out.

She got ready for the next one but realized there was no more, except the captain. He just stood there and shook his head in disappointment.

"Well Captain, it looks like you got a problem. Your crew is injured and you have a woman who knows how to fight. And odds are that this woman will kill you if you get in a fight with her," Lady Darkness said pointing the tip of her sword at the captains throat.

"What do ya suppose I do then miss?" the Captain asked.

"You have two options, one you fight me and die or two you hear who I am and ask for mercy," she answered.

"Hmm, tempting offer. But what if ya don't kill me? What if you just got lucky or maybe my crew is just a bunch of wimps. What then lass?"

"What's your answer?" she pushed.

The captain smiled and walked up to her.

"If your not with the Enemy then who are ya?" he asked.

She pressed the tip of the sword up against his stomach and answered, "a rebel."

"Ah, then what are you doing with the Enemy's weapon?"

"Their weapons are the only things that can kill them. In other words I stole it."

"I see. Well it seems I have a problem. I have a rebel on my ship with a sword ready to pierce me. So… I'm asking for mercy," said the Captain.

"And I shall give it on two conditions" she answered.

"And what is that?"

"You must take me to Rome and you must come to my aid whenever I call," she answered, pressing the tip deeper into his stomach.

"Agreed," cried the captain. "Get up you good for nothing rotten bag heads! We're headin for Rome!"

The crew jumped up even though most of them were still in pain and they went back to their posts. The captain handed Lady Darkness her scythe and threw the sword to the side.

"May I have your name lass?" the Captain asked.

She looked at him for a long moment and answered, "Lady Darkness."

Three weeks later the ship was at the dock in Rome. Lady Darkness smiled for she was home at last but her smile disappeared at what she saw. The city was covered in smoke and she could hear the cries of her rebels as they fought off the Enemy.

She ordered the Captain to leave at once as she jumped off the boat and they happily obliged. She ran into the city and to where the battle was taking place but was surprised at what she saw. It wasn't the Enemy they were fighting but humans like herself. Why were these people attacking the rebels? Something didn't seem right. She pulled her scythe out from under her belt and ran into battle. A battle that she didn't want to fight. For she was fighting her own kin.


	8. Chapter 7

VII

VII

Fighting In Rome

The smoke. The war cries. The hate. What was happening? Why were human's attacking the rebels? Nothing seemed clear. Nothing seemed right, but it didn't matter. These were her people and she had to assist them no matter who she was fighting.

She swung her scythe as she shed a tear. The scythe cut through the air making a _whoosh_ sound and then it stopped. She could feel the vibration run from her finger tips, up her arms, and the through her shoulders. The scythe stopped in its place and Lady Darkness couldn't bare to look at it. With a hard tug, wedged the scythe's blade out of the man's sternum. The scythe made a gushy sound as came out.

The blood dripped slowly onto the ground, one drop at a time, until it flowed out like a waterfall. She watched the blood hit the ground. Her eyes began to haze. The smoke was getting the better of her. All the commotion and sorrow took over and then, she fell over.

Count Theral walked through the fire that consumed the streets of Rome. The fire, the death's, the screams; they all made him smile, a nasty looking smile. This assault was too easy, it was a shock to him why the General didn't do it already.

"Sir!" one of his captains approached him.

"Yes captain?" he asked.

"Sir it's about your son. He isn't coming."

"What! What was his excuse?" Count Theral asked.

"He didn't give one. He just said he wasn't coming and then he left."

Count Theral shook his head in disappointment. Vylex was really starting to become a disappointment. He was always off doing something and never learning about the art of war.

"Carry on captain," Theral said at last.

The captain nodded and then walked away. Theral continued through the streets. His thoughts soon left his disappointing son and back to the attack. Everything was going fine but something didn't seem right. This battle was over way to fast. There wasn't really a resistance. There wasn't even an army.

Could it be that this place wasn't were all of the rebels reside? Something else didn't seem right. Where was their leader? The general said that she could still be alive and that she would be here, so where was she? This great warrior.

Count Theral made his way out of the burning city and back to his campsite. He walked inside his tent and sat behind his desk. He inked his pen and filled out the scattered paperwork. He had to write a letter to the General of the Enemy but he was having difficulty. His mind couldn't leave Vylex. The boy had always proved to be such a disappointment.

The Count thought back to when he first got Vylex. When he had found out that he couldn't reproduce, he went into shock and neglect. He was drunk in his own sorrow. Nothing could cheer him up. Even his wife left him for another man.

For months Count Theral's depression increased. He would say things like, "let us have a wonderful last night together," or "you shall all be free after tonight." Of course nothing ever happened.

But soon he started walking alone in the streets, hoping an accident might occur involving him. Night after night he made it his daily habit to walk the darkest alleys every night, but nothing ever happened to him. It seemed disappointing to him, for he desperately wanted his enemies to recognize him, but they never came.

He tried making more and more of the people hateful towards him, by raising taxes, executing innocent people, not giving his people food, but they still didn't come for him. No matter what he tried, no one would end it.

Years passed by and still he was alive and as healthy as can be. His moods had changed about life. By then the Enemy had made an alliance with him and he was one of the more wealthier people in the world. His army was vast and his land was rich. He had completely forgotten about his inability to reproduce.

He no longer walked among the streets and hoping his fate would come to an end. He no longer bid his servants a permanent good night, and he didn't make the people hate him. He was a lot happier and a new man.

Of course, the past can't be forgotten. The Count was at an execution, a man had stolen a lot of money so that his family would never live in poverty again. Count Theral attended executions often so that he may have a word with the person. He tells them how sorry he is that his family is so unfortunate and he apologizes for the laws that the king makes. He lets them know that their causes were wrong for the right reason.

Before they die, you can see the tears in their eyes. They would be moved by the Count and in with their last breath, they would scream, "Long live Count Theral!" Some people thought he did this to gain the people's favor, but those who really knew him, knew how sad he was at their deaths, and every word he said was true.

However, at that particular execution, the man paid no head to the Count's words. The whole time he was looking at a boy in the crowd. He winked at the boy and right before the guillotine fell for his neck he cried, "Carry my name son!" And then he was dead.

Those words struck the Count right in the heart, piercing it like a sword. It burned and throbbed and ached, as the words kept stabbing at it. Count Theral's memories of not being able to reproduce struck him hard and fast. The emotions rushed back in, making him more depressed than ever. He walked away from the dead man and into the streets of the city.

He knew the streets far too well; taking the most dangerous and darkest ones. He would turn left and then right and then right again, making sure that anyone following would get lost. He was coming to a dead end when suddenly he stopped. There was something in front of him. Something he couldn't quite decipher. It was small, square shaped, it looked oddly like a box. A box with a white cloth over it.

The Count stepped closer to get a better examination of it. It was definitely a box. Probably a box of kittens or puppies that someone didn't want. He didn't want to deal with animals, he had best walked away, but as soon as he turned around to walk away, he froze. There was a noise that came from the box; not of a dog or a cat but something more familiar. The noise was a cry and Count Theral knew immediately what it was.

He went to the box, threw off the cloth, and opened the package. Inside crying was a baby boy, about seven months old. The Count scooped the child in his arms and called out for help, to see if anyone dropped it on accident, but no one came. He looked into the child's eyes, a sapphire blue, odd color. Something he hadn't ever seen before. The child stopped crying and began to smile a crook smile. The Count didn't realize the evil in that smile. He was more interested in the necklace that hung from the child's neck. It was a chain that went all the way down to his belly button, and hanging from the chain was a metal triangle with a shape of a gun carved into it.

The Count recognized this symbol right away. He had been told about it from the Enemy. The symbol was the threat of another enemy. One that the Enemy would not allow to spread. There were only few of them left and it seems this one was one of them. But he was only a child, how could a child know about such things, the Count thought. He hid the necklace in his pocket, to destroy later. Taking the child in his arms, he walked away from the area never to return.

"Vylex, I'll call you Vylex," said the Count. The child approved with his evil little smile. Of course Vylex didn't have any idea what his name meant, and the Count wasn't planning on telling him either.

In fact the Count didn't want to name him that. It just popped out of his mouth without will and he couldn't resist from calling the child that, no matter what.

Till that day, the Count couldn't call Vylex by a different name. By then it was just habit but even when the Count wanted to say another name, he couldn't. It was like he had a spell on him, forcing him to say that name. It didn't matter anymore, Vylex was a disappointment. He was hoping that the boy would follow in his foot prints but instead he went off on anonymous missions.

"What could he be doing this time?" the Count asked aloud.

"Sir?" the council aid to his left questioned.

The two council aids standing next to him were both wearing long white cloaks. The cloaks had blue lining form a collar. There was gold trimming threaded down the flaps of the cloaks. There feet were concealed behind the cloaks. They both had hoods barely covering up there foreheads. Under the hood was a whit band that went across their eyes.

"Nothing, don't worry about it, how is the battle going?" he asked, taking his mind off of his useless son.

"Very well si-"

"Sir! Come quick!" a soldier shouted in a panic as he rushed into the tent.

"What? What is it? What happened?" Count Theral demanded an answer, standing up from his seat and pounding his fist on the table making it shake.

"Reinforcements, sir!" the soldier blurted out.

"What!"

The smoke was starting to make its way out of her head. She gained conscience but wasn't able to open her eyes just yet. The truth was, she didn't even want to open her eyes. She was too scared, scared of what she was seeing. Humans attacking humans, it just didn't make sense.

When her head was clear of all the smoke and her body regained feeling, she finally opened her eyes. She saw bodies all around her, rebels and of the attackers. She wouldn't of vomited if it was the Enemy that did this but these men killed each other. It wasn't right and it shouldn't of happened. So why did it?

She pushed herself up and looked around. There were men in armor, carrying normal weapons, walking around and stabbing at the dead bodies making sure none of them were alive. When they saw her stand up, they stopped instantly in place. The looked at her and she looked back.

They didn't know what happened after that. How could day? Within a single blink, Lady Darkness had her scythe in her hand and had dashed passed them, slashing at all of them with the scythe. They were all fatal blows, killing the them as soon as struck.

Lady Darkness walked passed the new dead bodies and ran into the burning city. She dashed through dark alleys, using her stealth skills to their max. She leaped, and rolled, and ran across walls, avoiding all obstacles and so swift that you would have thought it was just the wind passing by.

She got up behind two men attacking a helpless old woman. She ran passed them and down the next alley. The old woman looked at the men who stopped so suddenly. She watched them in terror as they fell to the ground, dead.

She ran up to some crates that were stacked against a building. She leaped onto the lowest crate and then leaped to the next and the next until she was on the roof of the building. She ran across the roofs of buildings until she was on top of one that looked down on the battle field. It was odd to see so few rebels, so few of her men. Where was everyone, where was the main force.

Her questions were answered when she heard the cries of those who gave their lives to rid the world of the Enemy. This whole battle, this war that these warriors thought they were winning, it was just a trap, a setup. The rebels had ears everywhere and knew everything. But why hide and let their comrades die just to trap the enemy.

They charged in, by the hundreds, the whole rebel force in Rome, an army that was lethal and vast charged in and wiped out everyone who opposed them. She was furious, she was disappointed, and she was sad. Who ever developed this plan didn't care for his or her comrades.

She watched as her men caught these invaders off guard. She scouted out who could have developed this plan, who lead the charge. There was Valerie, she was a leader type and liked being in charge, but she also cared for her fellow troops and wouldn't sacrifice them. There was Erin, he was always talking about sacrificing people so they could accomplish their bigger goals, but he was no leader. She couldn't pick anyone else out or think of anyone else who would do this. Then it hit her.

In the back of the rank was a tall man, big and strong. He took his claymore and swung it with such speed and such strength he nearly took out ten men with one blow. He wasn't like Vash, where the giant would take out an army with one swing. He was more equal balanced. A true fighter among fighters but also a real trouble maker.

His name was Bartu. He liked to go around a lot and tell people that he was the best sword fighter alive. Of course Lady Darkness couldn't deny that he was probably the best fighter in the rebellion but he would go around saying that no one could beat him, not even the legendary Hart.

For years he would try to take control of the rebellion, saying he was the leader. She would swear that he focused more on killing her then he did killing the Enemy. He was a handful.

She watched him fight. He had a scar running down his left muscular arm. His hair was short and his eyes were usually blood shot red, no one knows why. He was a crazy man, a pure psychopath. And he was the one leading this attack, the last straw that she had for him.

She jumped off the roof to help her men finish the battle off. With her speed and Bartu's skill the battle was over before nightfall.

The Count was in shock. No one said reinforcements were on their way. He had men posted everywhere to give warning if such a thing was going to happen. So, how did they do it. Unless they weren't reinforcements, they were the actual rebels that he was looking for. Which means that this whole fight was, a trap. Did the General know, did he know this was going to happen?

"Sir! We are on the retreat!" his captain, informed him.

The Count's eyes bulged out as he heard the news, he gathered his paper work with the help of his aids, but he wasn't quick enough. The tent was rammed into by fifty men and the drapes collapsed over the Count, his two aids, and his captain.

When the four got out of the covers they were in circled by the rebels. Bartu walked towards them and slashed at the captain with his sword. The captain fell two the ground holding his arm's wound.

"Who are you?" Bartu asked the Count.

"I am Count Theral of Gaul," the Count said proudly.

"I suppose you ordered this attack," Bartu accused.

"No. I was ordered by the Enemy to wipe you out."

"Oh really? Well then since you work for the Enemy that makes you the enemy. Hope you enjoyed your life," Bartu said raising his sword.

"Bartu, he's a Count, an agent for the Enemy. We kill him and the Enemy and the King of Gaul will be upon us. I don't think you want that," Valerie inquired.

"Let them come. We've been waiting one hundred years to get rid of the Enemy. Let them come we'll finish this here and now."

"Bartu, you know we can't defend ourselves against the Enemy, we are two few. We must…"

"Silence! I am the leader of this rebellion and we shall do as I order. Now lets declare war!" He shouted bring his sword down.

The Count closed his eyes as the blade came down but then opened them suddenly when he heard a cling echo throughout his ears.

"Your rebellion, Bartu?" a woman's voice asked.

The Count opened his eyes and saw Bartu's sword inches away from his head. That wasn't all, however, under the sword, holding it from slicing the Count in two, was a scythe made out of the element darkness. He looked over to its wielder and saw a woman, with purple hair and venom green eyes, which looked like they were venom. It then hit him, this was the woman he was looking for. The one the General was talking about. Somehow she survived and made it back to Rome.

"You! Your supposed to be dead!" Bartu shouted in shock.

"Taking charge in my absences are we Bartu?" asked Lady Darkness, "I don't suppose you were the one who ordered the surprise attack."

Bartu smiled, "Well in fact my lady I did. Pretty good plan wouldn't you say. We have the Enemy's puppet here in front of us and we saved Rome.

Lady Darkness returned the smile. "We? Saved Rome?" She shot him a piercing glare.

He pulled his sword back with swift speed and was ready to strike but she was quicker. Her foot came swinging around and her heel hooked him in the jaw. He fell over, his hand on his face. He started to jump back up but stopped but stopped when he felt the point of her scythe pinned against his chest.

All the men and women around her pointed their weapons at him, following their leader's command. He looked at all of them, fear, rage, and hate gleaming in his eyes.

"You sacrificed your own men. You made orders without my approval. On top of all that you just get on my nerves. Bartu, I am putting you under arrest. You are to be watched at all times until I figure out what I'm going to do with you. Now on the matters of the Count," she said turning to the Count, "I am disgusted that you would join the Enemy's side and attack your own kin. However, due to the fact that you are a Count I'm going to let you live. But mark my words, if you dare show your face here again I will not be so merciful. Now get out!"

"As my ladyship demands," the Count said humbly, bowing his head and stepping back.

He turned and walked out of the circle with the two aides assisting the captain stumbling behind him. Lady Darkness looked him walk away. When he was gone she looked back at Bartu with piercing eyes. After a moment she looked at Valerie and nodded. Valerie and a few other men helped him to his feet and then took him away.

She took a deep breath and then looked at her men. They all looked at her with happiness in their eyes. They all thought she had died and seeing her here and still taking charge gave them hope. She looked around and then took another deep breath.

"You all fought well today. Let us pray to those who were sacrificed and let us learn from today. If we are to have any hope winning this battle we must fight side by side. Not let the weak be sacrificed for a more glorious victory.

"While I was in England, we were ambushed by the Enemy. Everyone died, even captain William. They died because we were surprised, and caught off guard. But never again, from this day forward we are going to up the training of all rebels and we will all learn what to do when an ambush is occurring. I, Lady Darkness, will not let my troops die in vain ever again!"

"What the hell is this! Are you trying to kill my men? They were ready for the attack! They knew we were coming! I will not have my men killed because…"

"That's enough Count Theral! One more word with such disrespect and I'll take away more then your army. I'm deeply sorry for your loss but it was your own fault not going to the battle prepared. You should of expected something like that to happen." The general boomed at the Count, back at his manor.

"I'm sorry I failed you," the Count apologized.

"Don't worry yourself about it. We have another attack coming soon. One that will guarantee the capture of their precious leader and the destruction of their city. Now if you'll excuse me I have matters in England I have to attend to."


End file.
